A Kid's Hero
by Numinous Scribe
Summary: "My body moved on its own."― That's the story of how a person begins their journey towards true heroism. This is the story of how Bakugo Katsuki saves a child and gains his first fan, learning what it truly means to be the number one by being a kid's hero. (A fluffy crackfic that's rated T because Bakugo doesn't know how to censor his language.)
1. Heroic Act

**This story is more or less a crack fic to satisfy my desire for combining fluff and Bakugo, but I also kind of wanted to give our problematic fave a chance to mature on his journey to becoming a hero through a different sort of experience. Or in other words, a series of loosely interconnected drabbles in which Bakugo grows up thanks to the support of one little kid. Hope you enjoy! PLUS ULTRA! (Lol, feel free to slap me for that..)**

* * *

A stone skittered along along the pavement. It clicked and clattered as it rolled, hopping over a crack in the road until it slowed to a stop. A few seconds later it was sent flying once again by the tip of a brown shoe.

Bakugo huffed, aimlessly glaring at the ground beneath him. As far as shitty days went then this one really took the cake. Not only had Deku made him look like a complete idiot in front of the class, in front of _All Might_ no less, but he had also tried to give him some dumb ass explanation about his fucking quirk. It pissed him off― a kind of anger that welled up in his chest more so than his head and made it hard to reach his hands, made it hard to vent in the violent way he was so used to with his explosions. A wet anger that seemed to have direct access to his eyes, triggering them to produce tears.

He hadn't cried in a very long time.

Catching up to the rock again, Bakugo pulled his foot back and kicked hard. He barely managed to scuff it just enough to send it bouncing about a foot ahead.

Even now he could feel how swollen his eyes had become with every twitch they made. In it's own right it was irritating, but the reason for why they were that way only made it worse. To further his aggravation even more he was utterly exhausted, and he _hated_ feeling that way when there was still daylight burning.

"I've almost got 'im, just a little bit lower!" The sudden shout caught Bakugo's attention. He stopped and looked up, beholding an odd yet rather concerning sight on the road ahead of him.

Having decided a detour, definitely not in the mood to go home right away, the blonde had cut off from his normal route down a side path near Yuuei. (There was no way his mother would let him live it down if she knew he had been crying.) His walk had lead him to a rather calm and mostly empty journey through the suburbs. The trip had a somewhat soothing effect on him, if not downright numbing enough to keep him from completely raging. The current path Bakugo had been walking along ran next to a river with high walls for an embankment. Ahead of him were a few children; two boys, scrawny and bulky respectively, and a set of legs sticking up in the air on the other side of the wall.

Bakugo frowned. What the hell were these guys trying to do― some kind of bravery challenge? No, one of them had yelled about almost having gotten something. So they must have been trying to retrieve an item, most likely a toy.

Drawing closer to the wall and peering over, Bakugo saw the third child reaching for something that wasn't a toy, but rather a small animal that was stuck on a small ledge that jutted out along the entire length of the wall. From this distance it was difficult to tell but if he squinted then he could just make out four legs, a thin little tail, and a set of triangular ears all covered in mottled black and white fur.

' _A kitten?'_ His eyes wandered over the child reaching for the frightened animal, not liking the dangerous way they dangled above the river below one bit. Rotten lead filled his gut and pitted itself uncomfortably as he watched the kid in the sun-yellow hoodie get lowered another inch, tiny hands splayed and at the ready to snatch the poor creature. Bakugo glanced away and down at the water that gurgled below before darting towards the boy that so precariously held onto his friend.

If that big kid were to somehow lose his grip, whether it be from the fatigue of holding onto the other one's weight, or because his meaty hands had gotten too sweaty, then Sunny would be looking at a fall that was the equivalent of jumping from the window a two― possibly three ―story building. And forget whether this kid knew how to swim or not. A fall from this height, head first, would be like hitting concrete and enough to knock them out before giving them a chance to resurface. And though the current wasn't much faster than a leisure whirlpool at a waterpark it'd drag the child further downstream while simultaneously drowning them.

A new, horrible sensation suddenly accosted the pit in his stomach as the cons racked up larger than the sum of pros. It started by robbing him of feeling in the tips of his fingers, replacing it with an irritatingly light, floating sensitivity. It grew in his toes, too, and overtook the space in his chest and clouded the back of his mind. Vaguely he recognized the feeling as a form of panic, the kind that was a secondary cousin to concern and irrational in most senses. Yet with all these facts surrounding him, supporting more bad endings and scenarios than good, this panic felt incredibly rational to him. It wasn't like when he struggled against that slime monster in a time that seemed so long ago, when he had been terrified of the air being stolen from his own lungs, when he had been afraid for himself.

It was a sense of peril that came from watching someone else in potential danger, an overwhelming need to intervene and protect― a desire and concept that was surprisingly unfamiliar to the one that strived to be even greater than the greatest number one hero, All Might himself.

His feet began moving on their own, the only motive, the only direction guiding them leading directly towards stupid kids trying to be heroes. He'd drag Sunny up himself and tell the kid that he'd get the cat, and once he did that _then_ he'd yell at them for being dumb, for not getting an adult or an actual hero. Just so long as no one fell then this dread welling up within him wouldn't get its way. Just so long as everyone was _safe_ then he could relax.

As Bakugo drew closer the kid dangling by their feet crowed, "I got 'im! I got 'im! Pull me up Zeke!"

Instead of following through with the command the boy that held Sunny's legs, Zeke, looked over at the scrawny kid next to him. They seemed to have some silent conversation with each other, which lasted no more than a few seconds, but when the boy looked forward again he had the most ugliest expression ever etched onto his fat little face.

Pure, twisted delight curled the lips on his chubby cheeks into a crooked smile, his eyes wide and shining with a special kind of cruelty that only children seemed to know how to weiled. Bakugo recognized that look, his pace increasing as the boy leaned out a little further, the other kid crying in surprise as they swayed above the water.

He recognized that look because that was always how he had felt just before subjecting Deku to some new form of torture.

" _Eh?_ Zeke what are are you doing?!" Sunny cried out.

"I heard somewhere that if you put a Quirkless under a lot of stress they can mutate a quirk on the spot. Wanna do an experiment for us, Sei-chan?" Fatty and Twig sniggered as they watched Sunny struggle around. The fat kid let go of a leg and a squeal erupted from the smaller child.

Bakugo was running now, flinging his backpack to the ground and fuming hard enough to get his hands smoking. " _Oi!_ What the hell do you punks think you're doing?"

All eyes turned on him― the visible ones anyways ―and Fatty's mouth formed a surprised ' _o_ ', right as he let his grip on the other leg go slack. Twig mentioned something about Yuuei and suddenly both boys were booking it away from the river. That hardly mattered though as the blonde's attention fully riveted itself upon the child that freely fell towards the churning water below.

Bakugo barely felt as his coat slipped off his arms, or the way the muscles in his legs coiled when he jumped over the wall; he could feel the wind though, the mild spring air tearing through his hair and cutting through his clothes. That same air whistled in his ears , battling against the roar of blood that resonated through his entire being. There was rage and fear mixing themselves an adrenaline cocktail as his feet broke the water's surface first, creating a cushion that numbed and absorbed the shock of impact. Millions and millions of little bubbles coalesced around him as he sunk. But, when he opened his eyes to the underwater realm, the worst thing he felt as he tried to find the kid in the yellow hoodie, was desperation.

The water was murky enough that he couldn't see very far ahead, and already the lack of oxygen in his chest was beginning to burn, so Bakugo propelled upwards in hopes that maybe, just _maybe_ , the kid hadn't been knocked unconscious. He broke the surface, gasping. Blinking water from his eyes he paddled forward, the lead in his stomach turning into a weight that made him feel like sinking as he saw no sign of the little yellow hoodie. Just as he was about to dive back under and try again a pale arm shot out of the water with a shaking little kitten mewling in fright clinging to the equally small hand. Seconds later the dark head of the kid broke through the surface, gasping, coughing, and choking on water all at once.

But just as quickly as the child had reappeared they dipped back under the water, the ability to stay afloat thwarted by a struggle to breathe properly. With powerful strokes and the lazy push of the river Bakugo glided through the water and latched onto the kid's wrist before it completely submerged, taking both child and feline back into the confines of a watery grave. He dragged the small body towards him and grunted in mild relief once he heard breathless gasps. Snaking his left arm under the kid's arms Bakugo made sure that both animal and child were firmly pressed up against his side before mostly kicking his way towards the high wall that towered above the river. His energy drained quicker with the added weight and only the use of one arm, not to mention swimming with thick shoes like his only seemed to make his movements more slower and useless. Still, gritting his teeth, Bakugo plowed forward like the stubborn fighter he was until his hand was scrabbling for a hold on the flat surface of the concrete wall.

Now to just find a way back up.

Scaling the wall was out of the question― there weren't very many hand holds to begin with, and all of them were spaced too far away from each other. Add in the fact that he didn't have nearly strength to carry a kid up a completely vertical incline, with just _one hand_ , and that idea was absolutely garbage. And, because he was soaked right to the bone, there was no chance in hell of him being able to use his quirk to blast his way up. The only other option was to let the current carry them to an outlet, but Katsuki didn't have the luxury or patience to wait for something like that.

They slowly inched their way further downstream and Sunny coughed and spluttered against his shoulder, the noise itself growing weaker at the same rate they were going limp. Bakugo's arm tightened around the kid and he tried to shake them a little.

"Hey, don't fall asleep!" he barked. The kid groaned in response, followed by a shiver.

" _Shit_ ," he muttered. All his life he'd only seen heroes save the helpless civilian from the source of danger. Never had it been shown how to take care of the civilian after if they were injured or dying. It was always death defying feats, explosions, and big, flashy battles in which the hero triumphed over the villain. For all the talk he had about going pro, when it boiled down to it Bakugo didn't know what to do when it came to delivering the most essential help: First Aid.

Which meant that he'd just have to hurry the hell up and get this kid to someone who _did_ know what they were doing.

Bakugo slapped his hand on the highest part of the wall he could reach, where the water had not affected the stone and the sun had thoroughly warmed it even if now it no longer shined on this side of the wall. His skin burned on contact and he felt the moisture from the river drying and replacing itself with his explosive sweat.

' _Better than nothing,_ ' he thought with a grunt, putting his arm out to the side at an angle to at least get him far enough from the water's surface. Once his explosions had lifted him high enough then he placed his hand directly adjacent with the rippling surface, gritted his teeth, and let the air fill with the scent of smoke and fire as he let off the biggest spark he could muster. They shot through the air, barely managing to flip over the edge of the wall, before tumbling to the ground and rolling like clothes in the spin cycle.

The moment he came to a halt his mind hit a blank spot― nothing of the past few minutes could be processed in this moment. His breaths came raggedly and the only thing that remained even remotely focused in his line of sight was the blacktop of the road he lay on. It was warm and yet utterly cold, with half of him damp and exposed to the consistently cooling air.

It wasn't until the feeling of wet fur tickled his chin that he snapped out it. Tiny claws dug into his skin and a little body squirmed its way over his shoulder with many high pitched cries. The kitten escaped its entrapment between Bakugo and the kid's body and leapt onto the pavement with shaky legs. Looking over his shoulder, Katsuki watched as the kitten scrambled away, only turning back once to meow loudly at him.

' _Am I supposed to consider that a thank you?'_ he wondered groggily, watching until the kitten disappeared from sight. He turned away and looked down at the crown of the child still in his arms and not breathing.

Bakugo jolted upright, lowering the child to the ground and checked their vitals― the one thing he _did_ know how to do. There was a pulse, though hard to find, and if he strained his eyes to look beyond the soggy mess that was the yellow hoodie then he could faintly catch the rise and fall of the kid's chest. His eyes flickered over Sunny's face, frowning at the tinges of blue that were creeping into the pale features. Since it was still early spring then that water wasn't very warm, and the smaller the body the easier it froze. And with the sun going down it was only going to get colder.

Picking the child up again, Bakugo staggered over to his abandoned coat, glad that he had taken that part of his uniform off before jumping into the river to perform his rescue. He draped it over the kid as best as he could before retrieving his backpack, slinging it over his shoulder. Between the dry warmth of the jacket and his own natural body heat Bakugo was confident the kid wouldn't freeze too much, but now he needed to hurry. He had once seen in the news about someone drowning to death after enduring a near-drowning experience. The reporter had said the cause had been a thing called dry-drowning, a case in which fluids still remained in the lungs and caused a person to be unable to breathe. Bakugo wasn't going to risk anything.

Before he began to head off in the direction he had come from― for that was the only way he knew he'd get anywhere to find a hospital ―he spotted a smaller red bag sitting in the spot that all three kids had been in when they were attempting their rescue of the kitten.

Since the kid was definitely a grade schooler then Bakugo could safely assume that that bag would have Sunny's personal information in it― all grade schoolers had a card with their names, addresses, and phone numbers to show to an adult or someone with authority if they were lost or hurt or even both. With that card he could at least have someone phone this dumb kid's parents and let them know that they weren't dead or kidnapped.

Trudging over to it, the blonde stooped and snatched the backpack off the ground, simultaneously flipping the flap of the bag over. Sure enough there was the info card neatly tucked into a see through pocket. Crimson eyes glided over words and numbers, his only interest as of this moment was in finding out Sunny's real name in the events that he could properly chew this kid out once they woke up again.

Katsuki's gaze flickered over the kid again and he scoffed, exhaustion washing over and through him ten times over. It was a feeling that differed from all the other thrilling events he had ever endured. Normally his stamina would last a lot longer than this… Perhaps saving someone actually took a different kind of energy compared to fighting a horde of villains― or in his case, classmates ―and it took more of it too.

Shaking his head, Bakugo slung the other bag over his shoulder as well and began to jog as fast as he could towards the city, muttering one thing to the passed out child.

"Yoshida Seiko, you sure are one dumb fucking lucky kid."


	2. Thankful Act

He couldn't get that fat kid's expression out of his head. The way those beady little eyes glinted with superiority, the cruel twist of those lips as they formed a smirk, the way the shadow of one sided power gave those round cheeks a false glow― it was utterly sickening. He couldn't get those words to stop ringing in his ears, couldn't stop that _one word_ from screaming at him the way he would scream a thousand curses. But above all that what bothered Bakugo the most, the one thing he couldn't stop, was the deadening weight of how familiar it was to him.

Rolling onto his back, the covers rustling quietly in time with his restless movements, Bakugo laced his hands beneath his head and stared at his ceiling. Ever since the hospital had permitted his release― those damn nurses had been adamant about making sure he hadn't caught pneumonia or some other sickness despite how hard he argued his case about being perfectly fine ―his mind had drifted through a thick fog that was shadowed with a combination of the day's events. Until, eventually, all thoughts wound up re-routing themselves to the one thing that bothered him now and left him unable to fall asleep.

The memory of that expression was like an itch, irritating, hard to reach, and utterly impossible to resist scratching. It was impossible to not mull over every little detail and break it down until he had worn through enough layers to make himself bleed. But it wasn't enough to make the itching stop, no, it was never enough. He had to keep scratching, keep thinking about it even long after he had exhausted every angle of consideration until eventually a series of sores had been created and the space that had been scratched was no longer recognizable. He had to destroy it until it had nothing more to do with him; even though there would still be scabs to remind him, scabs for him to pick at again, to stop from healing completely, and then there would be scars.

Because for Bakugo Katsuki itches came with compulsions, and with compulsions came destructive tendencies― tendencies which either left him ticking like a timed bomb or exploding on impact.

A light shined between the slim openings of his curtains, momentarily upsetting his train of thought and distracting him as the soft yellow glow traveled across his ceiling. It was late, but someone must be on their way home from work…

Kicking the covers off, Bakugo sat up and made a move to get out of bed. For a split second his feet hovered above the floor, toes barely ghosting against the carpet as he remained perched on the edge, his mind going blank with indecision. The moment passed and before he was fully aware of it he was halfway to the desk that sat adjacent to his bed.

Bakugo reached out and flicked a switch on a little lamp. He squinted against the golden haze, slightly turning his head as he grabbed the swivel chair from beneath the desk and pulled it out. As he began to lower himself into the chair it dawned on him that the coat of his uniform had never been put up. Instead it had been carelessly thrown over the back of the chair and had accumulated a new set of creases that came from not being hung up properly, especially since it had needed to dry out from being wrapped around a soaking wet kid. Looking at it now though made the creases the furthest thing from his mind, instead reminding him all over again of Fatty's face as he endangered someone else's life.

He decided against sitting.

Crossing his arms tightly over his chest, Bakugo attempted to distract himself through other conventional means. This proved to be a bit more difficult than originally intended. Despite his non-existent fuck-giving attitude he was a consistent sort of guy that actually cared to stay on top of his grades, so all of his homework had long since been completed and was currently in his backpack at the ready to be turned in the next day. Reading was an idea that went flying right out the window; none of his books held any interest to him at the moment, and since he was already caught up on all his comics then he was forced to wait for the next release, which was two weeks away. Doing a little bit of a workout was an exhausting idea in and of itself (even if exhausting himself to the point he passed out was the goal). And the thought of filling the silence with music was just as iffy as sitting in the silence with only his thoughts.

Katsuki sighed deeply, crimson eyes traveling up the partially illuminated wall to rest on a full yet organized bulletin board. Yet again, despite the messy delinquent appearance he put forth, Bakugo actually did possess some semblance of cleanliness and orderliness. It was mostly kept to the more personal and private aspects of his life― namely his room ―but it wasn't really like he kept it a secret. (More like there was no one to show just how deep his perfectionism ran to.)

The bulletin board itself was fairly basic as far as the boards of aspiring teenage heroes went. In the middle was the first poster he had ever received of his favorite hero, All Might, obtained from a _Heroes Weekly_ magazine he had been obsessed with when he was a kid. The big man himself was maintaining a hands-on-hips hero pose coupled with his iconic smile and personal slogan. Surrounding this poster were a few postcards with All Might and some other top heroes that he had collected as souvenirs of sorts, claiming they were rare collectibles even though they really weren't. Further to the left was the calendar his dad had gotten him around New Year's, the days slowly being crossed off with a red slash to mark what's gone by and what was still ahead of him. To the right were a bunch of a bunch of charts and post-its which ranged from reminders to weekly training regiments.

The final thing that drew his attention was the piece of scrap paper pinned at the very bottom of the board. Bakugo reached for it and with a sharp tug, ripped it away to study it. Only two things were written on it: A name and a phone number. The likes of whom they belonged to were none other than Yoshida Seiko's guardian and older sister, Yoshida Chiyuki.

" _If there's anything we can do for you then please don't hesitate to call_ ," the woman had said, handing him the hastily written information after profusely thanking him for saving her idiotic sister's life (the one thing they could definitely agree on). Bakugo hadn't been able to say anything in response, instead only being capable of watching the short haired woman rush past him and into the room that Seiko was currently inhabiting. Shortly afterwards he had shoved the paper in his pocket and promptly took his leave.

Then and even now the blonde couldn't shake this heavy feeling that he didn't really deserve any kind of payment for saving that kid's life. He couldn't even bring himself to feel satisfied with the fact that he'd done something heroic. Instead he felt awful in the exact same way that he felt disgusted every single time he remembered that fat faced brat's expression.

Seiko was a quirkless child, a fact taken advantage of by quirk-blessed so called friends, and as a result she had been put in a dangerous situation for the sake of entertainment. It was just all too familiar to him.

After all, how many times had he done similar things to weak, quirkless Deku?

Lifting his gaze up to meet All Might's, Bakugo wondered if he could really call himself this kid's hero. Yes, he had saved her from death― both from drowning and by getting her to a hospital before something else happened ―but he was also _guilty_ of being the same kind of person those two boys had been.

It made him more of a… a villain. A villain that had done one good thing even though there were countless bad things stacked against him.

The thought alone was enough to make his entire body go slack, shoulders drooping, hands falling to his sides, the little piece of paper nearly slipping from his fingers. He wasn't really sure when people had started comparing him to a villain, saying that his quirk and matching explosive behavior suited the role so well despite how much he marked his claim on being the top Pro Hero. He also wasn't really certain on when he had begun to let his guard down and allow a few of those comments slip through his defenses.

It had never occurred to him to be anything but a hero. All his life he had set his sights on making it to the top and being greater than All Might. He was completely taken in by how that man looked when he won and wanted nothing more than to make his mark in the exact same way. And yet the only impressions he ever seemed to leave were of the worst kind.

' _Screw that_ ,' he suddenly thought, clenching his fists and trembling lightly. ' _Screw that and screw the people that think it too. And while I'm at it screw myself for having some pansy ass pity party. All this time I've given nothing but my best to_ be _the best yet all they can do is spit it back in my face. So what… So what…'_

So what really defined ' _the best'_?

Bakugo glanced down at the paper in his hand as if it would give him some sort of clue. Eventually he gave up though, his mind coming up empty handed, and finally acknowledged that he had gotten himself stuck in a rut. The itch was back, and now it was making him run in fucking circles. Rubbing his face, Bakugo chucked the little paper on his desk and forcefully turned the light off. The room was plunged into absolute darkness but it didn't stop him from plowing through it straight towards his bed and flopping on it in that aggravated way of his.

Turning on his side and tucking an arm under his head, Bakugo closed his eyes. Tomorrow. He'd solve this problem tomorrow. How he didn't really know, but he would get it done, because he was nothing if not efficient in that regard. And with that resolve in his mind, he could finally go to sleep.

* * *

Despite the limited amount of time members of class 1-A had spent together each student had already begun to get a feel for everyone's ' _normal'_ ― or personal routine and behavior. And the beginning of this normal always started with class rep Iida Tenya dutifully performing his job and making sure everything and everyone was in order for the start of the day.

Or as everyone else liked to call it: Iida vs. Bakugo, Shouting Match Extreme!

Except today there wasn't any shouting, vulgar death threats, or religious upholding of rules to be heard as the students made their entrances in the class. In fact, Iida and Bakugo were no where near each other, both quietly sitting in their respective seats and off in their own little worlds. While most could conclude this as something ' _normal'_ and more preferable behavior for the class rep it was highly disconcerting for their resident Shouty McSplode to be just as equally quiet.

"Do you think yesterday's combat challenge hit his pride hard enough that he got sick?" Mina leaned a little further into the cluster of girls that was convened in the back of the room and observing the suspiciously silent blonde, whispering.

"Maybe he was angry enough that he couldn't sleep so he spent the whole night plotting his revenge against Midoriya - _ribbit,_ " Tsuyu suggested. Everyone nodded. It was a rather realistic and logical scenario considering the type of person Bakugo was beginning to prove himself to be; though incredibly talented and smart enough to be considered a genius, Bakugo was prideful enough that it made him fairly angry and childish at times.

Jiro leaned back in her seat, lacing her hands behind her head while a lazy smirk crept up her face. "My theory is that he's just on his man period and is playing on the mood swing right now."

A low snicker traveled around the group, growing louder until all the girls were laughing hard enough to cry. Meanwhile, a couple desks down the line, the boys were holding their own committee to discuss one particular angry blonde child's inactiveness.

"I'm telling you, _aliens_ stole the real Bakugo and replaced him with this look alike in hopes that it'd fool us!" Kaminari held out his hands as if he were holding a box and gave each person a dead serious look. His speculation was met with one full second of silence before deeper chortling mixed in with the girls breathy giggles.

"' _Aliens_ ' says the defective pokémon," Mineta half whispered through his snorting. The yellow haired accused claimed offense with a gasp and immediately delved into a new argument with the stunted grape over how his idea was perfectly logical, the point of the joke soaring above and beyond his head.

On the other side of the table, through his own laughter, Kirishima studied Bakugo and wondered more about how to go about bringing the blonde back to his natural state rather than what had caused him to become so quiet and reserved. He felt that he had a better grasp on how the perpetually angry boy usually ran things; definitely more so than the rest but probably not as good as Midoriya, but even then he also probably had more headway than the green muffin simply because there wasn't any actual animosity between him and Bakugo. Amidst the confusion of where Kirishima stood concerning Bakugo's friendship (which he had imagined more than he realized) the redhead came to a simple conclusion: What he needed was a trigger in order to create an explosion.

Or in other words, he needed to sacrifice Midoriya in order to piss Sparky off.

' _That wouldn't be really fair to Midoriya though,_ ' he thought with a sigh. ' _I mean, yesterday definitely made things too tense for them to even function somewhat normally. Plus sacrificing someone isn't very manly.'_

His nose wrinkled a little at his last thought. What was manly was cool and if it wasn't so then Kirishima didn't usually want much to do with it. As it were though, Kirishima didn't really have to go far to find something to make Bakugo snap. The rise in chatter from the classmates around him was enough to do the trick.

"Oi! Do you think I can't _fucking hear you?_ " The blonde slammed a fist on his desk, whipping around in his seat to send the crowd a set of crimson, poison tipped daggers and demonstrate the value behind the saying ' _if looks could kill'_.

"No, we did this specifically _because_ you can hear us," Jiro retorted with a little roll of her eyes. Kirishima could have sworn he saw Mina passing her something under the desk, a sour pout puckering her pink face.

Katsuki was halfway out of his seat, the usual snarl marring his features. "You wanna fucking go?"

"Bakugo, use respectful language! I will not tolerate such foul words being uttered in class." All heads turned towards Iida as he stood up from his seat― more like jumping for joy at the opportunity to discipline ―chopping the air like the well mannered robot he was. Several students hid their grins behind their hands or snorts under the guise of a cough, but the relief was evident along with the usual exasperation that things were once again back to normal.

"Respect? I'll show you some goddamn respect― this is for you and the stick up your ass!" The bird was released and Bakugo grinned madly as Tenya gasped about ten generations of offense for the Iida family. At that same moment the class door opened and in stepped Midoriya along with Uraraka, both stopping with one foot in the air at the aggressive display before them of both Iida and Bakugo bickering furiously over the schematics and technicalities of respect and the language that should proceed it. While the two new arrivals were mildly frightened by the growing intensity of the atmosphere they couldn't help but smile and shake their heads while cautiously entering the war zone they had come to know as their classroom.

As for the rest of the students, well, it looked as if they had worried over nothing.

"Ten bucks says that Bakugo won't be able to make things physical before Aizawa gets here," Jiro cackled as she leaned over towards Mina.

The pinkette grinned and quipped, "Oh yeah? Ten bucks says that Midoriya will try to make peace between the two and end up being the one who gets decked."

"You're on!"

Ah yes, what an amazing, chaotic normal this was.

* * *

The remaining sakura blossoms of the season drifted through the air with little delicate twists and turns as the wind gently pulled them along. Most came to litter the ground, creating a thin but beautiful sweet pink carpet that, if anyone were to purposefully pay attention to, would be difficult to tread on. As was the case though not many people were prone to looking down at where they were going, instead finding it more preferable and optimistic to look ahead or skywards. But when one was closer to the ground it was a sight that was impossible to miss.

A tiny hand cupped some of these petals off the ground and tossed them into the air before hiding beneath a little pink umbrella, giggling at the shadows as they softly slid along the tight material before fluttering to the ground again. Amber-hazel eyes peered from beneath the lip of the umbrella with a gleeful gleam, dark, messy bangs hanging like an unruly curtain of curls above them.

A bell chimed deeply and those eyes turned expectantly towards the entrance of one prestigious hero academy. And, much the same as ants came crawling from their home, students came out one by one, two by two, to three by threes and so and so forth― all until there was a steady trickle of students walking down the road, kicking up petals as they went.

Seiko stood up as tall as she could, bouncing up and down on the tips of her green rubber boots in hopes of catching sight of one person in particular. With one hand she twirled the umbrella around, creating a little rain of sakura petals of her very own, while with the other in its sling she cradled a small hand picked bouquet and a very carefully folded piece of paper close to her yellow clad chest.

Occasionally a few students passing by would glance her way; Seiko would smile wide for them and wave, cheerfully calling out a hello and giggling when they smiled and said hello back. It was incredibly fascinating to see all the different kinds of people that came out of Yuuei, and it only sparked her admiration in knowing that all these cool looking big kids were learning how to be heroes. To be a person that wanted to make use of their unique ability, to be a hero that helped others and fought to protect what was right― it was a respectable dream in Seiko's eyes. Though for now she was stuck dreaming of having a cool quirk, the little girl, too, hoped that one day she could be a great hero.

And, as her sister often reminded her, the first steps of a great hero always began with the little acts.

Her eyes wandered over the sea of faces, wondering when she would be able to perform her own heroic act. It was only a second after she thought this that her target came into sight. Seiko couldn't remember too much of what happened after she fell into the river― her mind had only been able to focus on saving the kitten, breathing, and feeling stabbing pain throughout her entire left shoulder ―but it was impossible to forget that sharp mane of blonde hair, no matter how fuzzy or wet it appeared in her memories.

Grinning, Seiko raised her umbrella in the air and waved it around, yelling, "Hey! Big bro!"

Several heads turned in her direction, but she payed them no heed, instead waiting for the boy― her _hero_ ―to look up and see her. He didn't seem to hear her though, the look on his face saying he was lost amongst his own thoughts. Seiko called out to him one more time before running towards him.

"Hey down here big bro!" The little kid nearly avoided being run over by the boy, shouting her reminder that she was short and definitely not at eye level with a big kid like him.

Bakugo came to an abrupt halt, his eyes widening upon seeing the same idiotic kid he had saved the day before standing in front of him with a fairly self-pleased grin dominating her squishy little face. Too stunned to properly form any kind of coherent sentence, the boy could only examine her with a shocked expression.

Seiko decided that, now that she was awake and aware, her hero was genuinely handsome. She liked the color of his eyes best.

Letting go of the umbrella and letting it slide down her shoulder, the little girl untucked the bouquet and eagerly handed it to him. In retrospect her first gift wasn't much in comparison to the kinds she saw on tv; as a simple, non-employed six year old money was difficult to come by, and the little that she did get could never amount to enough to buy such extravagant and colorful arrangements. The next best thing she could do was pick the wildflowers that grew all around her secret base and clumsily put them together. She thought it was pretty though, and truly hoped that her hero would like it too.

"What is―? Why?" Bakugo wanted to curse himself for being so stupid and inarticulate at the same time. He was so caught off guard by this kid― it was almost _embarrassing._ At one point he had considered going to check in on the kid to make sure she was doing okay, but he hadn't actually planned on _seeing her_ , and he most definitely hadn't planned on her showing up in front of his school like _this_. Holding a bunch of flowers with such a starstruck look in her big eyes― how the hell was he supposed to deal with that?!

"This is part one of my thank you plan!" she exclaimed eagerly.

' _Part one? What else is she gonna pull out? A circus?'_ Bakugo eyed the child before hesitantly taking the itty bitty bouquet from her, silently noting that it was already coming apart (and upon closer inspection consisted mostly of weeds rather than actual flowers). When he glanced back at the little girl he was slightly taken aback by the determination in her golden eyes, albeit more so amused by the fact that she had to mouth ' _phase two'_ to herself as if to remind her that that was what came next in this so called plan.

Seiko met the boy's deep, crimson colored gaze and automatically felt warm. It reminded her a lot of how warm she had been the moment he had pulled her through the water and held her against him so tightly. He had been a safe kind of warm, and the little girl knew with all her heart that he was the best good guy she had ever met. Perhaps even better than All Might himself.

"Thank you for being my hero!" With a flourish the folded paper was removed from the sling and also handed to the ever growing flustered boy. She waited while he grabbed and unfolded it, attempting to read his mind since his face revealed almost nothing save for a faint scarlet tinge in his cheeks. After staring at the paper for perhaps a full minute, maybe even five (time was irrelevant to a child), the boy looked at her once again and opened his mouth as if he had something to say.

Before he could get too far― not that Bakugo was fully functioning at this point anyways ―Seiko gestured for him to come closer. "Just one more thing! But ya gotta get down here 'cause I'm short."

He was reluctant to oblige yet also could not stop himself from being curious and wondering just what else she had up her sleeve. So, though Bakugo still felt like he didn't know what the hell was going on, the boy did as he was told and crouched down until he was eye level with the kid. She grinned, cheeks burning a bright pink, just before jumping onto him, wrapping her good arm around his neck and squeezing tight.

Bakugo stiffened, nearly retaliating with a punch that would have literally sent the kid down in flames. If it wasn't for the fact that his mother attacked him in such a similar manner whenever she wanted to show him this thing called _affection_ then he really would have followed through on instinct. But unlike the evasive maneuvers he employed on his mother, Bakugo remained perfectly still, unsure of exactly what it was he was supposed to do. Was… Was he supposed to hug her _back_?

Seiko didn't hold on for long, easily sensing from his rigid posture that he wasn't used to receiving hugs. Before she fully let go of him though the little girl had one last idea. It was a popular trope and expression of gratitude in all the hero movies, though she never fully understood why, but Seiko was eager to try it just this once.

Quickly turning her head, Seiko puckered her lips and struck fast, pecking the boy's cheek before practically sprinting away from him. Her cheeks grew hot and she giggled to herself from the exhilaration of doing something so daring. Unable to contain so much excitement and energy she couldn't help but punch the air with her umbrella and shout, "I kissed a hero!"

As for Bakugo he was still trying to differentiate between heads and tails. Was he embarrassed? Flustered? Happy? Angry? His whole head had never felt so on fire before.

It wasn't until he started smelling smoke that he realized it was more than just himself that was burning up. He looked down and swore when he saw the edges of the paper sizzling away― the flowers already too far gone to be saved ―and he hurriedly put it out. Now singed and crumpled the gift _almost_ seemed ruined.

But…

A corner of his mouth quirked up.

' _It's got charm_.' He slowly shook his head before neatly folding the picture of himself and the little girl being heroes together, tucking it away in his pocket.

Bakugo stood up, brushing a stray petal off his pants, and aimlessly stared in the direction Seiko had vanished.

' _Maybe, just maybe,_ ' he thought, ' _being this kid's hero isn't such a bad thing.'_

* * *

 **I was really interested in the fact that Bakugo is the kind of guy that internalizes things (ref. of ch. 118 for the manga readers) so I really wanted to find a way to include that here in order to also help with the growing process, which also lead to the realization that I am incapable of not writing anything without some form of angst. (I'll try to keep it to a minimum though, this is supposed to be mainly a bunch of fluff, lol.)**

 **With that out of the way I must also inform you guys that I am currently in the process of packing/moving so I'm not sure when I'll be able to update after this, though I will try to get in one more chapter before I cease to have internet for a time. Also, right now I am posting this at 3 a.m so if there are any mistakes in both grammar or characters not being IC please help me out.**

 **And because why not here's the title for the next chapter: _Quack!_**


	3. Quack!

The class was abuzz with amicable chatter; a few students were already in their seats, holding pleasant conversations with their desk neighbors or making last minute attempts to help each other finish their homework. Others were gathered around a specific person's desk, laughing at jokes and sharing small experiences in which they learned something new about fellow classmates. All together the atmosphere was pleasant― not even a dark, exploding cloud could make it not so.

In one corner at the front of the room sat a tight knit group of girls, the tuft of pink hair and curly horns in the center of the mob indicating that the host was none other than Mina. Everyone listened to her speak, rapt and highly interested in the little morsel of details that she had to share. While leaving school grounds the day before she had spied something significant happening not very far from the gates. The point of interest to Mina, though, as well as a peculiarity, was that the event she had witnessed concerned none other than the local exploding boy, Bakugo Katsuki.

"It was so strange yet absolutely endearing," she gushed in as quiet of a voice as she could manage. "I mean, this little kid looked so happy to see him, and she even gave him flowers and a card! And the weird part? Bakugo wasn't even remotely scary or mean to her at all. In fact I think he gave her a hug. I had no clue he even knew what that was!"

She put a hand to her cheek, feeling how warm it had become from just talking about the tender moment she had witnessed. Despite the fact that the moment had involved Mr. Unpleasant Mina couldn't help but succumb to the sheer innocence of the memory. Even from where she had stood the admiration had been unbelievably clear on that little girl's face (so much so that she was nearly glowing with it). Bakugo had been a bit more difficult to gauge, but he seemed flustered enough that it showed just how far out of his element he was.

It had been unbelievably cute and refreshing, in her opinion, though at first she almost didn't believe what she had been seeing. After all, an image of a more tolerable and kinder Bakugo was difficult to reconcile with all the negative energy he had made a point to project himself as. And it seemed that the rest of the group was struggling with that same little detail, if the confused looks on their faces were anything to go by.

"Bakugo being nice? And to a kid?" Jirou closed her eyes and shook her head in disbelief. "I can't even imagine something like that ever happening."

"Who was the little girl though? The two have to know each other somehow, one would think," Tsuyu wondered aloud. She placed a large finger on the corner of her mouth and looked up at the ceiling. Despite how her neutral expression never changed it was quite easy to tell she was thoroughly mulling the details over.

Something shifted to their right and they all looked towards their mostly invisible classmate, Tooru. "Maybe that was his little sister?" she suggested, though rather uncertainly.

A wave of shrugs ran through the group, each girl no more knowledgable than the next. Not much was known about Bakugo other than his temperamental personality― and they all doubted he'd be eager to share any of his personal life with them. It wasn't like he was the most socially agreeable person in the first place.

"It's possible, I guess, but they didn't look anything alike― you know, like how siblings do? And the kid ran away pretty quickly afterwards too...," Mina's thoughts, spoken aloud, trailed off as she once again recalled the moment. After doing something that made both Bakugo and herself turn bright red, the little girl had run away in a giggling mess, eventually shouting somewhere further down the path about how she had kissed a hero.

Now that she thought about it the admiration the child emitted was familiar, a sort of enthusiasm everyone felt in the presence of someone they greatly idolized. It was something she witnessed nearly every day in class whenever one particular teacher made his appearance in the classroom; though the novelty of All Might being their teacher was slowly starting to wear off, it was still impossible to miss the awestruck grins students shared with each other over the fact that they were being taught by the number one hero.

Uraraka, who had been quietly listening to the entire discussion with a contemplative look, sat forward, briefly sparing a glance behind her before offering her own suggestion. "Deku's known Bakugo since they were kids, maybe he knows something about the little girl too. Why don't we go ask him?"

Faces lit up, and before anyone could agree Mina had already jumped out of her seat and began marching towards Midoriya.

The green haired boy didn't seem to take notice of her approach, his focus entirely zoned in on a journal― the burnt up one he used for cataloging heroes ―a hand over his mouth to muffle his muttering. He was so wrapped in his own little world that he didn't react to the shadows that fell over him as the rest of the girls joined Mina, just as eager for closure to this mystery as Mina was. It was only when Mina placed both pink hands on his desk and asked in all seriousness that Izuku finally registered that he was surrounded.

"Does Bakugo have any siblings?" The pinkette asked, nearly bordering a demand.

Izuku looked up from his journal, his round, emerald-like eyes widening in surprise from the sudden inquisition. Immediately following the surprise, his brows furrowed and he shook his head, glancing at the (thankfully) empty seat in front of him.

"Kacchan? No, he's an only child." He looked around at all the girls as some sighed in frustration or disappointment. Now curious, he added his own question. "Why?"

Mina shrugged, blowing a bit of air hard enough to cause her fluffy bangs to quiver. "Well yesterday I saw him with a little girl outside the gates. They seemed familiar with each other so I was― we were curious."

A light frown pulled at the corners of Izuku's mouth and Mina began to explain to him what she had seen. His expression only grew even more confused and and the girls suspected that no doubt he was trying to picture what had just been described, only to find that it was nearly impossible to do.

But as it were, that wasn't the case. Knowing Kacchan for as long as he had made it difficult to imagine him being nice to kids in general, but the idea itself wasn't so far out of reach that it was rendered impossible. While Bakugo always had up some sort of aggressive front on display for the world, there were moments, like windows, in which one could see right through him and view the qualities that made him good. Ever since he was a child he had been strong― stronger than Izuku and always what he himself wished he could be ―and (most of the time) he knew how and where to apply that strength, making him a great asset to most. Kacchan was also smart, though awkward when it came to himself and others. And only recently it seemed that he had learned to humble himself to some degree when it came to his own pride.

Bakugo had his own form of potential in the field of heroics, there was no denying it, but he was also learning and growing the same as everyone else. And that was what made the idea of the angry teenager being nice to a child possible for Izuku.

As Midoriya drew further into his shell of thought the girls eventually pulled away from him, recognizing that they wouldn't be able to get anything else out of the boy for awhile. But while one group left, another closed in, and the young man remained oblivious to it all.

"So, Midoriya," The easy going drawl began, the opening presented with a knowing smirk on Kaminari's face.

Whipping around in his seat, Midoriya faced the other boy with an expression that suggested he was a deer caught in the headlights. The expression charged the atmosphere and only grew more heightened when Mineta popped up on the other side of his desk, demanding, "What did you do to get surrounded by the girls? More importantly― did you get _any_ of their numbers?"

Izuku blinked, a confused, almost incoherent stutter leaving his lips. "Wha― Numbers? What does―? Why would―? Huh?"

The yellow-blonde haired boy smoothly sat himself down in the seat across from Izuku, lacing his fingers together as he leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees, that smirk only growing wider. "Let's be frank here― You're not the type of guy that strikes me as a chick magnet. And yet it just so happens that you had almost all the girls in class surrounding you. _How did you do that_?"

There was almost an underlying edge of desperation to the question, and though Izuku wasn't very well acquainted with either Kaminari or Mineta, he knew enough about them for it to click that they wanted― no, _needed_ ―to know how to get popular with the ladies. And what with him being his natural, awkward around women self and suddenly getting attention from multiple girls? It was no wonder they were seeking him out.

The green haired young man quickly held up his hands, waving them around to dispel the misconception floating about in the air.

"Y-you've got it all wrong! They were just asking me something about Kacchan and―"

"Why _Bakugo_?" Kaminari cut through Midoriya's explanation midway. The electricity user turned to Mineta, a cross between a childish pout, intense concentration, and a hint of hopelessness contorting his features. "I didn't think the girls found any appeal in him. I didn't think _anyone_ could find appeal in him. Did you?"

The smaller boy shook his head with an expression that mimicked his friend's. "He seems to be the kind of guy that only a mother could love― but even that sounds like a stretch."

A frown creased downwards heavily upon Izuku's face as the boys continued to trade theories and insults about his childhood friend, having come to completely ignore him altogether. While Bakugo wasn't without his faults it still felt wrong to listen to other people discuss them without remorse. To say that the temperamental blonde was unlovable was the real and outrageously far stretch of this conversation.

"Mina wanted to know if Kacchan had any siblings because she saw him hanging out with a little kid yesterday, that's all!"

Perhaps it wasn't the most articulate or brilliantly thought out explanation― and it definitely felt like he just sold out vital information that he wasn't supposed to let others know existed ―but it got Mineta and Kaminari to fall silent. At this point it also seemed that a ritual was catching on with the rest of the class; as they tried to process the information they would imagine the scene in which such a thing might occur, only to scrunch their faces in defeat at the impracticality of the notion. Yet one thing differed from the others, showing itself quickly through mischievous glances and knowing glints in their eyes. The feeling that he had just given the enemy something important only increased within Izuku, and only one word came to mind at what Kaminari and Mineta now had:

 _Blackmail._

If Kacchan didn't have a reason to kill him before then the moment he found out Izuku had anything to do with the spread of such information (whether true or not) would surely be like handing the explosive teen the death warrant, signed and sealed on accident by Izuku himself.

Almost as if he had been summoned, the sliding door slammed open and in stepped the moody boy of the hour. Bakugo glared at the class as people turned in their seats, startled or not by his arrival, to look at him; this barely lasted a minute before he stomped his way across the room, towards his desk. He slumped into his seat without so much as a second glance at Izuku, folding his arms tightly across his chest as he unceremoniously swung his feet on top of his desk. From the angle Izuku had due to sitting behind Bakugo he noted the tense and methodical way Bakugo's jaw clenched and unclenched.

' _Something's bothering him,_ ' he thought, a reflex of leftover understanding from having grown up almost always watching Kacchan from behind. For a second he wondered if the blonde knew about the current stream of gossip revolving around him― the thought was quickly discarded, also from knowing that if Bakugo knew about it then he'd put a stop to it, if he didn't like it that was.

So what―?

"Oi, shitnerd, what the hell do you think you're staring at?" Bakugo suddenly hissed, craning his neck around the barest minimum in order for him to make eye contact; shadowed crimson met with deep, light pierced emerald with a harsh challenge. Izuku automatically backed away as far as his seat would allow for with his hands held up in a placating manner. He struggled to come up with something to say that would keep the peace for a little bit longer, but his words were failing him.

"Now now Bakugo," Kaminari, though almost a little reluctantly, interceded and drew the heated attention towards himself. "You may act all angry and tough, but we all know that deep down you're actually a decent guy with a soft spot for children, so there's no need to put on airs around us."

Mineta nudged the electricity user in the side, his bug-eyed face saying _retreat!_ while the action congratulated his friend for his eloquent delivery of the jibe. Kaminari, well aware that he was beyond toeing the line of life and death, gulped and stood his ground regardless of how the intensity of Bakugo's glare burned holes through his soul. On the other side, with the attention momentarily shifted away from him, Izuku was able to glimpse the way Bakugo's eyes slightly widened before narrowing― a window of opportunity, one might say, although this tiny window only added another piece to this puzzle of confusion that was surrounding Kacchan.

As a slew of insults raged their way out of Bakugo's mouth, Midoriya could only wonder about this mysterious child that had somehow found her way into the angry boy's life, and if he might ever get the chance to meet her.

* * *

Bakugo's eyes narrowed the second he spotted the small pink umbrella, the child to which it belonged to happily entertaining herself by performing an odd little dance of hops on the edge of the sidewalk. What was she doing here again? Hadn't yesterday, when she had come to give him a proper thanks, been enough? Surely she didn't have anything _more_ to give him. Or worse, perhaps she was that certain type of fan that would go so far as to _stalk_ their favorite heroes.

Were six year olds even capable of understanding the concept of stalking? (Well… if _Deku_ was anything to go by…)

He shook his head, clearing the random tangent from his mind and set about to glaring at the little girl. Regardless, she was causing him more problems than he had the time or the patience to be dealing with. Not only was her presence at the gates of his school causing wild rumors to spread and speculations to accumulate, but her presence in his regular _life_ was beginning take an unprecedented toll.

Even after accepting the fact that being this weird, quirkless kid's hero wasn't going to be all that bad, he couldn't stop thinking― no, it was more like _agonizing_ ―about how much he saw himself in those other kids. It was something that, no matter how much he described his symptoms to the internet, searched for answers in books, or even voiced aloud to himself to understand, he just couldn't figure out why it made him feel like such an utter piece of undeserving _shit_. Why, even though it was something that he dreamed of and strived for as an ultimatum, he didn't _feel_ like it was okay for him to be a number one hero figure to such a young child.

That he couldn't truly be proud of his achievement as a good guy.

Seiko twirled around before stopping abruptly, her amber-hued eyes lighting up the moment she spotted him at the edge of the flood of students leaving school grounds. A toothy grin spread across her face and before he knew it she was running up to him, the little green rain boots she wore making soft squeaking sounds against the concrete tile.

"Big bro!" He couldn't stop his frown from deepening at the way she called out to him; her high pitched calls betrayed every ounce of admiration she held for him, the respect and pure joy just from seeing him, being able to talk and be near him― it almost made him sick. But it wasn't condescending, not like in the way he made fun of Deku for. No, this sickness felt heavier; a balloon that had been popped in his chest, leaving behind in its wake a thick cloud that hurt like sinking lead.

He swallowed hard and walked past her without a word. Perhaps if he just ignored her, made her another face in the crowd, then this feeling would go away and his own thoughts would leave him alone. And in return, so would she.

The smile slightly fell from Seiko's face as she watched the boy she called her hero brush by her without even a hello. She turned, tilting her umbrella back a little, and observed the tense outline of his backside. It was an image she was familiar with, having seen how work wore her big sister down, tiring her out. Maybe learning how to be a hero was tough work too and big bro was just all tired out?

Brightening, the smile returned to its full glory, and Seiko hurried to catch up with Bakugo. Since he hadn't gotten far then it was easy to catch up with him. However, if she wanted to stay caught up then she would have to take two very fast steps in order to keep up with just one of his long steps. It was difficult, and she almost was unable to talk to him, but she managed somehow.

"Big bro, what's it like learnin' how to be a hero?" she asked curiously, looking up with a bit of hope that he'd look back. "What kind of stuff do they teach you?"

Bakugo glanced at the child from the corner of his eye, gritting his teeth. How dense was this kid? Did she not notice the most obvious social cue he had presented before her, or was she simply choosing to ignore it? If he couldn't get rid of her in the nicest way he could manage then he'd have to do it the old fashioned way― get angry enough that it scares her off and she never comes back.

Just as Seiko opened her mouth to ask another question he snapped at her. "What are you _doing_ here? Why were you waiting for… me… again?"

He blinked as his voice died down, shutting his mouth with a tight _clack_ of his teeth and sealed with a frown. That had definitely not been what he had planned on saying. Just when exactly had his mind changed and let that awkward crap come spewing out instead? And why couldn't he muster up the energy to be angry? It was always so easy to become enraged― one wrong word or even a funny look could send him into a fit ―and yet he just couldn't force himself to get mad at the kid when she hadn't actually done anything wrong to him.

She was just being… nice. To _him_. And the only one that made him mad at was himself.

Seiko stopped, cocking her head to the right, messy bangs sliding across her forehead, and gave him a thoughtful look. Her answer was simple, yet pierced him deeply.

"Wouldn't you want to be as close as you could to your favorite hero?"

Katsuki opened his mouth, poised to say something, yet he had no words to say. So instead he looked away from the innocent little girl, heat rising up his neck, and fell back on an insult. "You're an absolute Quack, you know that?"

The child tilted her head to the other side, lips and eyebrows puckering together in a confused pout. ' _What's a Quack?_ ' she wondered. ' _Is it another name for a duck?'_

She glanced down and immediately the pout transformed into a wide grin at the sight of her yellow hoodie. Shifting the handle of the umbrella to the arm in the sling, she quickly flipped the puffy hood over her head and began marching in place to a series of small quacking sounds. Bakugo's head whipped around and he stared at her with an incredulous look, now truly speechless.

' _What even is this kid?_ ' he questioned weakly.

Without really realizing it he began walking again and Seiko followed, still keeping the duck noises in time with her steps. They didn't get very far though when someone suddenly called out to him.

"Hey Bakugo! Wanna join us and go to the―," He and the little girl turned around in time to see Kirishima walking towards them with Kaminari in tow. The redhead stopped short the moment he spotted Seiko at the blonde's side, sparing a side glance at Kaminari as he realized the rumors about Bakugo hanging out with a kid were true. He quickly returned his attention to the duo in front of him, a large grin splitting across his face as he crouched down so he was eye level with the little girl.

"And what's your name?" Large eyes shined with awe as they took him in, a cheesy, crooked smile breaking along the kid's face.

She stepped forward― a quiet _quack_ muttered under her breath ―and pointed at herself with her thumb. "My name's Yoshida Seiko! Who're you? What's your quirk?"

Kirishima couldn't help but chuckle at how upfront she was. He absolutely loved kids― he himself was one at heart ―and even more so he loved making friends with kids. Now he was no clairvoyant, but even he could see that a friendship between himself and this little girl was just around the corner in the near future.

"I'm Kirishima Eijiro, it's nice to meet you Seiko. And this guy over here is Kaminari Denki," he said, gesturing towards the other boy who stood nearby, observing everything curiously. At the mention of his name he snapped out of his reverie and offered the kid a lopsided smile with a wave of his hand.

"Yo."

Seiko giggled and waved at Kaminari.

"As for what we can do…"

Kirishima held up his hand and watched as it hardened. The little girl gasped and reached out to touch it, her amazement causing her to completely forget to ask if it was okay―although Kirishima didn't mind in the slightest. Behind her Bakugo scoffed, folding his arms over his chest.

' _Is someone getting jealous?'_ Kirishima wondered with no small amount of glee tagging along. Keeping his attention focused on Bakugo while Seiko entertained herself by watching Kaminari demonstrate a fraction of his quirk, the redhead observed the gradual, miniscule changes to Bakugo's features. There was the irritation as it tugged and pulled at the corners of his frowning mouth, the faint twitch of his jaw as he ground his teeth together, and the consistent flicker of his eyes as he tracked each and every move the little girl made. But there was also something else in those crimson eyes― a shine of confusion clashing with a dull cloud of… guilt?

' _Now what could that be about?'_

" _Whoa!_ You guys are so _awesome_! - _quack!_ " Seiko pumped her fist up and down excitedly. She spun around, turning her enthusiastic attention on Bakugo, her squishy little cheeks glowing pink with delight. "You've got such cool friends big bro! When I get my quirk I hope it'll be something just as neat as your guys's!"

Scowling, Bakugo immediately began to correct the little girl. "They're not my friends and you won't―"

He caught himself just in time, a sharp stab of pain emanating from the heavy feeling in his chest. There it was again, that flash of a reminder― him, the cruel little boys, and the quirkless children they had both made a mockery of. ' _When I get my quirk…_ ' How many times had he heard that phrase? How many times had he scorned the boy that had once been his friend? How many times had he put Izuku down for his genetics, something he had come to view as a disability, a weakness? Had he really just been about to do the same thing to this little girl?

Seiko appeared not to have caught on to his near slip up, and she turned around again to talk with Kirishima and Kaminari, the former of the two throwing the occasional contemplative look towards the explosive boy. He had been confused by the little girl's statement, having thought that she had a Duck related quirk since she would say _quack!_ at the end of her sentences similar to how Tsuyu would say _ribbit!_ , but after Bakugo's mouth nearly ran away with himself, and after witnessing that unguarded flash of guilt on the boy's face, Kirishima seriously began to question how the two came to be involved with each other. As far as he knew and understood, Bakugo seemed to hold some sort of deeply rooted, almost sort of subconscious, prejudice against those that were without quirks. At least, that's how it always seemed in regards to his relationship with Midoriya anyhow.

So what did that make these two then?

"Do you wanna be a hero when you grow up?" Kirishima asked, letting go of the need to interrogate and clear away his confusion about this new mystery. If he wanted the answers to these particular questions then he was going to have to let them come along naturally through the conversation. He didn't think Bakugo would appreciate the direct prying anyways,nor did he like the idea of having his face being blown off in that particular moment.

The child beamed at him and Kirishima felt his heart swell within his chest before melting into a warm, gooey puddle. ' _This kid's just too damn cute, it's not fair!'_

"Yeah! I'm gonna become a great hero one day― maybe even the number one hero!

Just as Kirishima opened his mouth to compliment her enthusiasm― wanting to be the best hero one could be was always a good dream, even if it was quite common these days ―he was beat to the point by Bakugo's loud mouth and usual condescending proclamations.

"You can't do that."

All eyes turned towards Bakugo― two pairs more disapproving and annoyed than the littlest, whom was moreso confused ―and the blonde immediately set about internally slapping the shit out of himself. There was a saying he had often heard growing up: Think before you speak. God how he now wished he'd actually learned how to do that. Why did he have to continuously add to his steadily growing pile of problems? Why couldn't he just do or say one fucking thing right in regards to this _stupid kid?!_ Why was being a hero suddenly so damn _hard_?

When he had said what he had said out loud it was out of habit― a god awful habit that happened to be ingrained into the core of his thinking ever since he was also a stupid little kid. And it wall because of one green-haired nuisance he had grown up with. It didn't help that the defensive nature of the statement came from years of warding off other people that tried to stake their claims on a title he had called dibs on so long ago. At least that left him with an excuse to fall back on, even if it now sounded ridiculously petty to him.

Katsuki cleared his throat and stared the kid down. Well, he dug this hole himself so he might as damn well use it.

"You can't do that," he growled, "because _I'm_ going to be the number one hero. And we can't have two number one heroes running this joint."

Seiko thought about what he said while ignoring the brewing argument between the boys. It was clear in her eyes that she still had many years to go before she could even make it pro, many years in which she would have to study and work hard to reach such a high level. By the time she made it out into the field of heroics someone else most likely would take the number one title from All Might― even she knew that the big man couldn't be expected to hold the position forever, no matter how awesomely powerful he was ―and that someone very well could be her big bro.

She smiled at the idea. It made a lot of sense now that she thought about it; hadn't she even decided that he was capable of being stronger than All Might?

So if she couldn't be the number one _hero_ … Amber eyes met crimson, beaming, and she said, "Then I'll just become the number one sidekick for the number one hero!"

Bakugo's face grew bright red and he spluttered wordlessly as he tried to wrap his mind around the statement. He hadn't been expecting such a thoughtfully compromising answer, and neither had the others. There came the sounds of wheezing from Kaminari's direction, the boy having turned around and bent over clutching his stomach (whether he was laughing or suffering from the effects of a pure innocence overload was unclear). And before anyone knew it Kirishima had scooped the little girl into his arms to deliver a bone crushing bear hug.

"You are too good, too pure for this world!" he practically sobbed. "Bakugo, how come you didn't say anything about having such an adorable little sister?!"

"She's not my sister dammit!" Katsuki scowled.

"Right, of course, this kid's too nice to be _your_ sister," Kaminari scoffed, avoiding the smoking fist that came flying at him immediately after. "But if she's not your sister then what does that make her to you then?"

"Big bro's my hero," Seiko proudly declared, her voice muffled by Kirishima's jacket, where she had eagerly succumbed in acceptance to his hug. "He saved me!"

" _Haah?!_ "

The little girl disentangled herself from the hug, absently adjusting the strap on her sling as well as the position of her umbrella before launching into story mode. "Well, Zeke and Lau and I were walkin' home from the playground where we'd been fighting off some of Melon Lord's army," she began, taking the story back to what she felt was the beginning of it all. "And we found this kitten stuck on a ledge of the wall that channeled the river so we tried to save it. Since I'm the smallest and Zeke's got an expansion quirk we decided that he'd lower me down so I could grab the kitten and―"

"And then that fat bastard and his equally stupid buddy tried to drown you," Bakugo finished with a hiss. It made him cringe to think about the moment when he had seen Seiko suspended in midair, dangling upside down high above the water's surface. The panic he had felt as he watched her fall had been too real, too vivid even in his recollections of the moment. He had never been so afraid of failing, of losing the child even though she was just a stranger to him.

Seiko avoided looking at Bakugo as she finished telling her story, of how Bakugo had jumped in and pulled her out of the river, even moving her hoodie out of the way a little bit to display the large bruise that wrapped around her shoulder as a result of hitting the water. She felt uncomfortable with the way he talked about her friends, though somewhere deep inside her a little piece of her agreed with him, and knew that Zeke and Lau were not wholly good kids. But she had her reasons for being friends with them, reasons that he might not understand.

So she acted as if he hadn't said anything more than a passing comment about what happened, and Bakugo in turn did not say anything else about her friends― though she sensed that he wanted to.

Grinding his teeth as he ignored the others, Katsuki frowned while eyeing the child, trying to figure out this little girl known as Yoshida Seiko. The harder he thought the less sense he could make of her, and the less sense she made the more Bakugo began to realize that he honest to god did not know how to truly be her hero― not the one she had drawn him out to be anyways. All his life he had tunnel vision when it came to the job of a pro hero, and at the end of that tunnel was just a large melee where he creamed villain after villain. But now that vision was broadening and he had absolutely no idea how to deal with it.

He wasn't anywhere near being the number one. Not yet anyways. It was with startling clarity that he understood this and finally accepted it as the truth. He thought he had already acknowledged this fact when he had so pitifully lost to Deku, but now he knew that it would take a lot more work and understanding on his part before he could honestly and proudly declare that he was anyone's hero.

There was a tug on his sleeve that dragged him away from his thoughts and Bakugo looked down. For whatever reason Seiko smiled at him, poking her finger into one squishable cheek; it almost seemed like she was trying to tell him to smile too, and he could hear her humming something that sounded suspiciously like ' _cheese_ '. And for whatever reason on his part, Katsuki genuinely (oddly) felt compelled to smile back― though in his case the most he would ever bring himself to do in front of a bunch of strangers was muster a half smirk.

The little girl took what she could get, glad that, in some small way, she was being her own kind of hero too.

"You're an absolute Quack, you know that?" Bakugo sighed with a slight shake of his head. There was no way she was anything but, and it was the only thing he could think to use to perfectly describe her anymore.

Seiko giggled and tugged on her hoodie.

" _Quack!_ "

* * *

 **I'm back, complete with wifi and a new place! I was really surprised to see all the reviews and general interest in this story, I feel so blessed :') Thank you guys, seriously. With that said I have two things to address, one being a request and the other a question.**

 **First, since I'm still feeling my way around the canon characters then I'm kinda paranoid that I'm not doing them any justice in both their personalities and relationship developments, so please bear with me if you find me repeatedly asking if I did okay or not at the end of some chapters. Because of this I would actually like to invite you guys to suggest some cute one shot ideas that would help Seiko and Bakugo's relationship develop a little more smoothly (as I've also discovered over my temporary hiatus that I ended up putting a lot more plot into this than the 'loosely interconnected drabbles' that I said I would be doing). If you could help me out with this then I will be forever in your debt + you get to be in the honorary mentions.**

 **Second, I've been stuck trying to decide on this for awhile, and I have ideas for either way this could go, but should I keep Seiko quirkless or should she develop a quirk? Opinions much appreciated.**

 **And because I actually quite like the idea of teasing with titles for the next chapter, have the title for chapter four: _Secret Bases and Dinner_**

 **P.S. If any of you caught it, Melon Lord was totally an ATLA reference, and will become more important/explained later on.**


	4. Secret Bases and Dinner

Seiko sat at the small dining table quietly coloring in her " _Heroes Ultimate: Jumbo Coloring Book"_. There were many pictures of different heroes, some made up for the fun of it and some of real people. Plenty were of the top five Pros. There were even special pages dedicated to vintage First Age heroes. Seiko was busy shading in one of them right now, a woman known as Moiya the Bubbler, with a blueberry colored crayon. Moiya was one of Seiko's favorite vintage heroes, the fun, chipper lady that was able to make super chemicalized bubbles with her spit being a leading contributor in some of her designs for a hero costume and extra gadgets.

Around the child the scents of food cooking filled the room. The smells of breakfast-y foods made her mouth water, although it was only a little after seven p.m. and awfully late for such foods to be made. Applewood smoked bacon was the most tantalizing, the rich, strong scent wafting through the air bringing up pleasant memories of crunchy delight. Underneath the sizzling meat she could also catch a whiff of salt and butter melting together and crisping something starchy― potatoes. And, though these were difficult to smell unless she was practically on top of them, she also knew that her sister was making scrambled eggs. It was only a matter of time before the toast would be made as well, as it was always made at the end so it was as warm as the rest of the meal.

This was a regular dinner, in Seiko's opinion; at least two or three times a week her sister would make eggs and other side dishes as opposed to heartier, more dinner like meals. As Chiyuki more often than not came home any time after six then it was also usually too late and too exhausting to make anything more than an easy fix breakfast.

Within the next few minutes Chiyuki began bringing in plates. The smells grew stronger. Seiko looked up from her handiwork, quickly closing the coloring book and setting it off to the side with her crayons. She took a small, plastic kiddie plate that her sister handed her as well as a fork. A larger plate with steaming food was set directly across from her in front of the opposing seat before the young woman disappeared into the kitchen again and re-emerged with two glasses of orange juice. Seconds later Chiyuki was sliding into her own seat and the girls were thanking invisible entities for their meal.

Immediately the young girl began shoveling forkfuls of scrambled egg into her mouth with great gusto, relishing the fluffy texture with delighted little noises. Whenever she tried to make them then they always turned out kind of flat and still a little runny so she was glad her sister knew a little cooking magic. Chiyuki's eggs always turned out perfect, and coupled with the bacon and potatoes then her little taste buds had an idea of what the food in heaven might taste like. Seiko sometimes liked to imagine that, if her big sis _were_ to have a quirk, Chiyuki's specialty would be Cooking Perfection. Everything and anything that was made by the young woman was worthy of being featured in a five star restaurant. It was a shame that not everyone got to taste her sister's food.

As she chewed on the crunchy meat a sudden thought popped into her mind that sent her scrambling from the table with a few strips of bacon in tow.

"Whoa, whoa where's the fire?" Chiyuki chuckled lightly, though a sigh of exasperation could be heard just waiting to be made behind the light hearted words.

The little girl scuttled towards the sliding door that led to her backyard, passing through the familiar scent of incense that usually hung in that area, and which still remained recognizable even through the aromas of breakfast, pausing to look back at her sister with a hand reaching for the handle.

"I gotta feed Taz!"

The sigh escaped and the young woman shook her head disapprovingly. "If you keep feeding that stray then he'll just tell all his buddies that we run a free food buffet. Next thing you know we'll have a dozen cats and dogs and other critters filling our yard and― Hey get back here!"

Ignoring her sister's monologuing― what was the problem anyways? It was just one cat ―Seiko raced barefoot through her backyard, mentally calling for the kitty named Taz as she went. Before she even reached the large picket fence at the end of the yard a black and white speckled feline wound its way around a loose plank, gracefully navigating across the budding lawn in the fading twilight to meet with the child.

Crouching, Seiko dropped the pieces of bacon in the grass and the kitten pounced eagerly upon the meal. The little girl giggled and gently petted the animal, a mental movie of sorts playing in her mind. She saw herself from Taz's point of view, hearts, Taz himself, and the bacon, over and over again as the kitten snarfed his meal down. She laughed a little louder when he turned on her fingers and began to lick the grease off her fingers ravenously.

A throat cleared behind her and Seiko glanced over her shoulder to see Chiyuki at the door with her hands on her hips and a pointed look on her face.

"You gonna let your dinner get cold or what?"

The young woman threw her head over her shoulder, gesturing for the little girl to get her butt back inside, and Seiko hurriedly jumped up with soft goodbyes to her feline friend. Seiko trooped into the house, receiving a light knock on the head as she passed her sister and instructions to go wash her hands.

When Seiko disappeared from sight Chiyuki immediately sank back into her seat and slowly worked her fingers along her temples. She knew children were a handful when it came to raising them, and also knew that there was something ten times more exhausting when it came to one's own siblings, but sometimes that little girl was just too much for her to handle. Whether it was just normal six year old tendencies or Seiko's unique disposition and mindset, or even her own inability to properly parent the girl, it frustrated Chiyuki to no end how the child just _wouldn't listen_ to her! It was bad enough that she couldn't always supervise that adventurous spirit and curb her compulsory wanderings― the recent near-drowning was still a black cloud hanging above her ―nor did it help that Seiko had a knack for attracting trouble in the most inconvenient ways possible.

Her choice in friends was possibly the greatest example, if Chiyuki were to name one.

Zeke and Lau were innocent enough a good majority of the time, true, but it didn't stop them from using her sister as a test subject when it suited them― though Seiko would deny any accusations directed at them and say it was all just part of their game. Because of that it almost felt like there was nothing she could do to stop her sister from interacting with them. Then there was that stray cat that showed up the day after Seiko got out of the hospital; she wouldn't have had so much of a problem with it if it hadn't shown any signs of developing a quirk. It was rare for animals to do such a thing, and though there were a few known animals with such gifts it didn't stop Chiyuki from being suspicious and protective of her kid sister. And then there was that boy that had been around at just the right place and time when Seiko had apparently taken a dip in the lazy community river.

When she had first met him in the hospital her mind was in a frantic mess, her main thoughts and concerns revolving around the well being of her little sister more than anything else. But even through that chaos it hadn't failed to escape her notice the odd confliction that was somehow strikingly clear through a sullen expression. Chiyuki didn't know what to think of it at the time, but every time she thought about it afterwards she found that something just didn't sit right with her; while in the meantime Seiko seemed to take on meeting up with the boy and befriending him as a personal mission.

Before Chiyuki could continue analyzing the mystery that was her own sibling Seiko returned from the bathroom. The two resumed eating dinner in a comfortable silence, the short haired young woman in particular pretending that there wasn't a pair of blue eyes and a furry nose with whiskers pressed against the window watching their every move. (' _That damn cat,_ ' she couldn't help but think as he tracked the movement of bacon from her fork to her mouth.)

After a while though she decided to chance a conversation. "So… Anything fun happen today?"

Seiko perked up and before Chiyuki could regret her choice in topic the little girl was off, rambling about the details of her day in her near non-linear way. She talked about the random facts she learned in school, the conquests she, Zeke, and Lau made in their battles against Melon Lord during recess, and of course, about her new favorite hero.

"And so, I've decided that I don't want to be the number one hero anymore!" Seiko declared loudly, thumping the table once for extra emphasis. Unable to keep up with the chatter, Chiyuki had zoned out somewhere between Lau accidentally getting himself tangled around a pole and something about a red haired boy, missing the transition that had led to this sudden development in her sister. A thin eyebrow slowly rose up the young woman's faces as she processed the declaration, until the other one joined it in surprise.

"And why's that?" she asked, hoping that Seiko wouldn't catch on that she hadn't been paying attention. She was also in need of an explanation to the child's own logic, but even that did little to stem the relief building up within her. There had always been some form of opposition in her when it had come to the words 'Seiko' and 'Pro Hero', and for many good reasons on her part as well. Perhaps Seiko had learned something about being a hero that didn't appeal to her― although that was a stretch of a hope on her part.

"'Cause big bro's gonna be the number one hero instead," the child said in a matter-of-fact tone. "And I'm gonna be his number one sidekick!"

At that moment Chiyuki had chosen to grab her glass of orange juice and take a drink; the cool glass paused at the edge of her lips while slightly chillier orange juice tickled her now and then from the unsteadiness of her hand. Chiyuki slowly lowered her cup and studied the child as she continued prattling on.

Seiko had always been enamored by the idea of being a hero― just like any other kid her age ―even long before the boy known as Bakugo Katsuki had made his appearance. But after such a fateful meeting it had only seemed to increase the little girl's determination and inspiration alike. Her room, already littered with posters and her own drawings of pro heroes, had only accumulated with the newest addition, and becoming a hero just as cool as that boy was probably ranked within the top five of her most talked about subjects. In so many ways possible, in such little time, that stranger that had saved her little sister's life had left quite an impact on the child, and Chiyuki didn't know how to feel about that.

The young woman frowned. Seiko's recent travels to that hero school were starting to concern her. She didn't really know much about the spiky haired blonde other than his name and the fact that he'd saved her sister. For all she knew, despite the fact that he had done something heroic, he himself may not actually be a good person. And if he was already influencing Seiko to such a degree… What if this boy were to start giving Seiko the wrong ideas? What then? How could she prevent her sister from following a dark path?

The possibility of banning the child from having any contact with the boy was the first and most tempting idea Chiyuki had. Yet Seiko was utterly convinced that heroes could do no wrong, and by default that would include Mr. Bakugo. Even with knowing how some of her sister's tantrums worked she didn't know the kind of backlash that would result from such a ban as this. There were too many things to consider when it came to Seiko, too much responsibility to properly bear on her own.

Coppery eyes darted towards a small stand that stood next to the sliding doors, between the semi-dining room and the living room, focusing on two pictures with black frames and small swathes of fabric. Not for the first time Chiyuki wondered how her parents would handle such a tough decision like this.

' _They'd probably stage some sort of intervention_ ,' she reflected, ' _then they'd be able to figure out what kind of a person he is, and if he should be allowed anywhere near Seiko. And since he's just a high schooler meeting his parents is a good idea as well._ '

Sitting upright, Chiyuki cut through Seiko's ramblings, bringing the attention back down to earth and on her as well. "I think I'd like to get to know this boy and his family. How about we invite them over for dinner?"

The child instantly brightened at the suggestion, and Chiyuki almost felt like she needed to shield her eyes from the pure delight that lit up her face.

"That's an _awesome_ idea sis! Can I make an invite card?" Without waiting for an answer she carried on, listing the supplies she'd need and the design of the invite. A tiny sigh slipped past Chiyuki's lips and the young woman stood up, collecting empty dishes as she went, slipping into the kitchen without a word.

' _Hopefully this doesn't end up backfiring,_ ' she couldn't help but think. It would be a pity to break her sister's heart, but if it meant keeping her safe and protecting her well being then so be it. All she could do was hope that the foreboding feelings she felt whenever she thought about the boy would turn out to be nothing.

But if it did turn out to be something… Gritting her teeth and shouldering her way through it, all she would have to say was that it was for the best. It would be the only thing she _could_ say.

And that's how it would be, for better or worse.

* * *

Bakugo only saw Seiko for about a minute, tops, before she was sprinting away from him giggling in that dorky way of hers.

He eyed the folded piece of notebook paper he now held in his hand― the means in which it had been delivered to him came by the cheerful, underage postgirl that only knew how to say, "Delivery! Delivery!" over and over again. Big, blocky letters, shakily written yet neatly colored in, stared up at him with a premonition of foreboding tagging along.

" _You're invited!_ " it said.

' _What could go wrong?'_ One part of logic lazily proffered for him as he flipped the card open.

' _Everything. Everything can go wrong,'_ his cynical counterpart sneered upon reading the details.

He and his parents were invited to have dinner at the Yoshida's. Underneath the suspicious looking invite was an address and a phone number, the writing much more legible than the child's. He recognized it as the older sister's handwriting, having stared at the phone number that was still tacked onto his bulletin board several times over the past few days. Yet the only thing he could bring himself to care about, the only thing he wanted to question at this very moment, was why his _parents_ had been invited as well.

Bakugo quickly tucked the letter in his backpack and carried on as if if nothing were out of the ordinary, though beneath the surface he was struggling to come to terms with the whole idea of the invite. He didn't particularly want to go over for dinner at Seiko's― partly because this was an out of the blue invite, but mostly because he had to bring his parents along. _Maybe_ with just his dad around things wouldn't wind up being so bad. Boring, certainly, but at least he didn't hold civil wars with his old man like he did with his crone for a mother.

Cringing, Katsuki's hands buried themselves deeper into his pockets and the boy slouched even lower than usual as he walked along, brooding.

Too rude to decline, yet unwilling to go because of the embarrassment his family was, Katsuki was in a bind. Maybe he could just use the phone number he had been given― twice now ―and say that his parents were unavailable and that his schedule was too busy?

It was a good idea until a quiet, calm voice shot it down with one question.

' _What about Seiko?'_

' _What about her?'_ he shot back even as his traitorous mind recalled the look on the little girl's face when she handed him the letter. Already knowing the contents of the letter her consistently happy round face held a look of absolute surety and confidence that he would accept the invite. Having dinner with her " _hero"_ would probably be like a dream come true for her. He knew that when he was her age he had allowed himself to imagine such ridiculously hopeful things like that; having dinner with All Might would have been the equivalent of winning the jackpot in his child-mind. Would it be the same way for Seiko, too?

Strangely, a part of him wanted to smile at the idea. It was a funny feeling, he realized, to find something endearing in just a single child.

He sighed in mild frustration and ran a hand through his hair. It seemed like he was going to have to figure out how to bring something like this up with his parents― they didn't even know he had saved the little girl ―and do it in a way that they didn't make a big deal about it. Unfortunately that was easier said than done.

Sighing once more, Bakugo mentally readied himself for the inevitable and picked up the pace. He had a dinner to go to.

* * *

Crimson eyes stared at the faded beige door with a tamed, sullen expression, the back of his head mildly throbbing from his mother's warning to behave himself.

The moment he had left his bag unattended on a chair in the kitchen, and apparently unzipped, his mother had pounced on the strange yet cute looking letter she had seen poking out. From there it had only delved into chaos, head swatting, and awkwardly aggressive crab dances while his dad phoned the number on the paper and assured the Yoshida's that they would be more than happy to attend, and to not mind the explosions in the background, it was just mother-son bonding time.

And now all three Bakugo's were waiting on the front stoop of the small two story home that belonged to the Yoshida family.

There came the muffled sound of a mini stampede from the other side of the door, and then a curly haired little girl poked her nose outside. Seiko gave him a wide, beaming grin, and Katsuki could practically hear the silent chanting and cheering going on in her head just from seeing the light in her eyes brighten.

"Well are you just going to stand there or are you going to let them in?" demanded a voice from further inside the house. The little girl jumped slightly, whatever enchantment she had placed herself under dispelling, and she moved aside to welcome everyone inside.

"Welcome to our humble abode! Come in, come in!" she chirped excitedly. Ever since her sister had begun making dinner Seiko had been nothing but a ball of pure ball of joy and jitters. She had imagined, played pretend even, having pro hero after pro hero step into her home and sharing a meal together time and time again, but nothing quite beat the actuality of the moment her favorite hero set foot inside her house. She felt happy enough to explode!

The second both of Bakugo's feet were firmly planted in the entryway the child latched onto the sleeve of his coat and began to tug him forwards, all boundaries of politeness forgotten on her part.

"Come on! Come on! I wanna show you my secret base! And you gotta see Taz too!"

Behind him Katsuki heard his mother stifle a squeal, which he ignored in favor of raising a questioning brow at the child. At this point he didn't quite trust himself to allow any decent words to come out of his mouth― the previous experience in saying all the wrong things the day before was still busy rubbing his face in the muck, so for the moment he decided his best option was to say nothing until he was certain it wouldn't rebound on him. (Although he got the feeling that he could say almost anything and the little girl would be able to find a positive way around it.)

From down the hall a young woman popped around a wall and waved. He recognized her as the older sister, Chiyuki. She brushed some of her short, choppy hair back before tossing her thumb over her shoulder.

"Her ' _secret base_ ' is just the empty lot behind our house," she said with a shrug. "You can go look if you want since dinner's not ready yet, but you also don't have to indulge her. It's not much anyways."

Seiko whipped around and shot her sister a stink-eyed glare. What was she trying to do? Thwart her plans? The little girl quickly turned on Bakugo again with wide, pleading eyes.

' _Well it's either the base or listening to my parents gossip about me while I'm there,'_ he grumbled. In hindsight the answer was an obvious one. With a shrug he gestured for the child to lead the way. Seiko jumped around as she led him down the hall, ducking past Chiyuki and into what appeared to be a joint living room and dining room, with the kitchen just beyond that. As they moved along Bakugo casually observed his surroundings.

The room as a whole was small, but not overly so that it felt stifling or cramped; with one medium sized couch and a regular sitting chair surrounding and overlooking an old tv, the scene was complimented by the little wooden dining table with its slightly larger chairs. A few pictures of Seiko and Chiyuki hung on the walls, and there was a fake tree by a corner near the kitchen. But as they traveled, crimson eyes fell on a modest looking stand that resembled an incomplete bookshelf. It rested in the space between the living room and dining room, next to a set of sliding glass doors, acting almost like a divider.

Bakugo's breath caught in his throat. He didn't see these kinds of stands all that often, having been the kind of person that was not regularly invited to another's house, nor did his family have one set up in their own home. It was as he stared at the two picture frames resting on two small, well tailored pillows that he remembered Chiyuki happened to be Seiko's legal guardian, a fact that had slipped his mind.

He caught the faint scent of clover coming from the Butsudan, the shrine for the dead, as he passed it on his way outside. A chill ran down his spine, and it didn't come from the evening air.

Following behind at a leisurely pace, settling themselves into seats at the dining table instead, Mitsuki and Masaru watched as their usually bullheaded son willfully allow the small child to drag him around until they disappeared from sight by ducking around a loose plank in the fence. To say that they were shocked was the understatement of the century.

"Is he always so obliging?" Chiyuki could help but chuckle as she asked, already guessing the answer based on their thunderstruck expressions. She slid into her seat opposing the couple. Since dinner, beef sukiyaki, was safely cooking away in a pot then the young woman felt no qualms about having a nice chat with the boy's parents in the meantime.

" _No._ " Mitsuki was the first to snap out of it, rolling her eyes with a snort. "The little punk generally makes it a point to lead the way himself. He can be so mulish at times― so to say the least this is kind of… baffling."

She shrugged a little helplessly and turned to her husband. "He never even told us about saving your little girl. Sure we wondered what was going on when he showed up later than usual, but he was adamant in not telling us a thing. And lately he's seemed to have a lot on his mind."

Chiyuki absorbed the information bit by bit, only pausing in her analysis to correct one little detail. "Seiko isn't my daughter, she's my sister," she said with another little chuckle. "I've been taking care of her since she was four though, so it almost does seem like I've taken on that role."

Before Mitsuki could apologize for the mistake Chiyuki jutted her chin over their heads, towards the Butsudan, which the couple finally took notice of.

"I was a year out of high school and already moved out, so I wasn't there when _it_ happened." Her voice quieted and her eyes softened. "But Seiko was.

"Our parents were scientists― true nerds that liked to study ecosystems and the likes. They had been invited to a wildlife convention in Hosu City, and because Seiko couldn't be left at home alone they took her with them."

Mitsuki and Masaru shifted in their seats, entwining their hands in each other's laps. Something nagged at them in the back of their minds, something that said they should know what was coming next, about what had happened two years ago in Hosu City, but they couldn't remember for the life of themselves. So they sat together silently and waited with a rising sense of dread for the rest of the story to be revealed.

"Do you remember hearing about the earthquake that hit Hosu and several other cities?" Chiyuki asked. The couple nodded, holding onto each other a little tighter. The young woman bowed her head. "From what I was told they were all found beneath the rubble of their hotel building, both of my parents forming a shield over Seiko. My dad―"

She choked, snapping her jaw shut with an audible click. It hurt just to remember, and even though she had been doing fine until now, it was overwhelming to talk about it. When she'd been awoken from sleep by her roommate, every news channel blasting information and speculations about the sudden severity of nature, her world had been tilted on its axis. When the rescue teams had finally managed to unearth her family from beneath the rocks her father had been declared dead on the spot; a broken neck had been what done him in. Her mother, though still alive but unconscious, died before they could reach the hospital; too much internal bleeding in her brain, they had said.

But Seiko had miraculously survived. Though she had cracked the back of her skull on a rock and caused slow bleeding between the bone plating and the sack that protected the brain, she had survived. The bleeding had caused a bit of memory loss, and altered her emotional development to a certain degree, but ultimately she was saved by the fact that the bleeding had not actually been in her brain.

Chiyuki quickly rubbed at her eyes, and stood from her seat, offering a crooked smile to the worried looking couple. "Ha, sorry for suddenly making things all gloomy. I'm just gonna go check on dinner and then I'll get you guys something to drink."

Without waiting for them to respond the young woman quickly disappeared into the kitchen. She rubbed her eyes a couple more times, the blurriness becoming more like a fine film over her eyes and if anything more irritating than not. As she checked on the sukiyaki and prepared some tea, Chiyuki glanced out the little window that sat above the sink, looking towards the far fence. Idly she wondered what those two kids might possibly be up to.

Outside Bakugo observed the dump that was supposedly something akin to a secret base. The lot itself was fairly large, and filled with what almost resembled poorly plotted patches of weeds and dead ground. Trash was piled haphazardously at the far end; broken appliances, shredded sofas, beds with the springs poking out of them― the list of items only went on the longer he stared at the mountain of garbage. There was a barren, scraggly looking tree in the middle and an even sadder looking shed. He supposed the only cool thing about it was that it almost resembled a fort, with large rocks stacked up indicating an entrance, and a couple turrets surrounding it. There was even one of those little orange flags, the kind that indicated conduits or cable lines were beneath them, carefully stuck on the roof. (The building itself was probably only about as tall as himself.)

As he observed the conditions of the lot Seiko scampered away, looking around as if she had lost something. When she didn't find whatever she was looking for outside she ducked inside the shed. Bakugo tucked his hands into his coat pocket and waited for what felt like was an eternity. He wasn't good at waiting. Never had been and it seemed highly unlikely that he ever would be.

Just as he was about to ditch his patience and invade the little shed, Seiko popped out with something wriggling in her arms. The child grinned at him and held up a kitten, Lion King style. "Big bro, say hello to Taz! Taz, that's big bro!"

The kitten gave a loud meow as it struggled against the child's awkward grip until it managed to kick its way to the ground. It ran towards him and reflexively he took a step backwards. The kitten clambered up his shoe― it was small enough that it could sit down comfortably on his foot, wrapping its fuzzy tail over tiny paws ―and practically yelled at him. There was a mix of thoughts, well, more like images, that flooded through his mind as he glared down at the animal. Food was one of them, the memory of smells― like greasy Applewood bacon for instance ―bombarded his senses and for a moment he almost thought that someone was actually cooking some. Another was an image of himself, lying in the middle of the road curled on his side, soaking and dazed as he looked over his shoulder.

"You're that damn cat that started this whole mess," he muttered under his breath, slightly reeling from the perspective of the image. His frown deepened as he realized that the scene was viewed from the cat's eyes, and that the memory was being shared directly into his head.

"Taz's got a mind quirk," Seiko jabbered on happily while making an attempt to grab the cat. "He only got it recently so everything he sends is just pictures, but when he gets bigger he might actually be able to use words 'n stuff. Sis says that that's called Telele― Tellapa―Teleleapa―"

"Telepathy," he supplied, putting an end to her struggle even though it was amusing to watch the faces she made as she attempted to say the big word.

Seiko beamed brightly and continued. "Yeah! So because he's got that I decided that he could be the lookout for my base and warn me about Melon Lord and his army. Taz does a good job too. Not a single bad guy has breached our defenses!"

She squatted and scratched the kitten behind his ear, to which the animal began purring. The animal promptly left his shoe and demanded more attention.

That was the second time the kid had brought up the imaginary villain, he noted. She talked about it so seriously though and he couldn't help but wonder― definitely not for the first time since they'd met ―if this kid was even all there. Half the time he could have sworn he was talking to a tiny nutcase!

' _But,_ ' he thought to himself, ' _every kid makes up a villain for their own hero stories. So… what's the story behind her villain?'_

"You keep mentioning a Melon Lord. Who the hell is that?" There was no point in beating around the bush; subtlety wasn't his forte and he'd never given a thought to curbing his tongue, and as it was this kid had some sort of unique selective hearing. As he'd suspected earlier, it probably wouldn't matter what he said to her― she'd find a way to respond with the point going clear over her head.

The little girl looked up, brushing a few strands of hair out of her eyes, and stared at him with an utterly serious expression. Katsuki shifted in place, suddenly not sure if he actually wanted the answer to this question. The weirdo she normally acted like was more tolerable than this disconcerting seriousness to say the least.

"Melon Lord is the bad man that's holding Ma and Pa's souls captive." The words rolled off her tongue slowly, almost as if this was the first time she were saying them out loud. "A-and I'm the hero that's gonna set 'em free so they can rest in peace!"

It was like a bucket of ice water had been dumped over his head; his body froze in place and his heart leapt into his throat, choking him. He had _not_ been expecting such a deep answer, let alone one that would make him _feel things._ It _hurt_ him. It hurt him because it was so pure and genuine and there wasn't a damn thing about it that was selfish. It made him him think of the two pictures in the Butsudan, about how this little girl used an imaginary villain to cope with their deaths, and god did it make him pity her. For once he felt an urge to comfort, though he didn't understand how to― and more than anything he was confused as to just how to deal with these emotions.

Seiko looked down again, twiddling with her fingers. "Hey big bro, I've been meaning to ask you, but… um… Would you be my second in command a-against Melon Lord?"

Her pudgy cheeks reddened considerably and she snuck shy glances at him from between the curtain of her dark bangs. She really, really, _really_ wanted Bakugo to join her team. He was strong, and fearless, and undeniably cool. With him, the future number one hero, on her side, Melon Lord wouldn't stand a chance! But she was also nervous because this was the first time she had ever admitted who Melon Lord was. Not even Zeke and Lau knew. What if he said no? What if he told her she was just being a dumb little kid and to quit making things up? There were just as many bad scenarios as there were good, and even she knew that not everything could go her way.

"What do I have to do as second in command?"

Head shooting up, amber eyes widened ever so slightly. Bakugo looked off to the side, carefully keeping his eyes trained on a patch of dirt. A part of him screamed at him that this was incredibly stupid, that this child needed to grow up and face reality with its real villains, that he shouldn't agree to be second _anything_. But another part of him (violently) shut those thoughts down with the simple understanding that this was just another part of being a hero. And as a hero he had to fight the villains to protect the civilians, no matter how real or imaginary they may be.

"You get to command our army and help defeat Melon Lord!" Seiko declared enthusiastically. She quickly looked around before grabbing the sleeve of his coat and tugged on it. "But whenever you're outside you have to be super duper careful because Melon Lord's spies are everywhere always watching. That's why I usually have an umbrella, but I forgot to grab it before leaving. Hurry, to the base!"

The child began to drag him towards the dilapidated shed before abruptly stopping (he nearly tripped over her).

"Oh yeah," she said, as if a light bulb had just gone off in her head. "What's your hero name?"

Bakugo blinked. He'd thought about a hero name before, but it was also something that he didn't exactly think about either. There were a few options he toyed around with, but he couldn't decide which he liked best, and he also knew that if he ever revealed them then he'd meet a ton of resistance. Still, Seiko had asked, and he needed to give her _something_.

The young man grinned sharply, though he still couldn't help but feel apprehensive. "I'm _King Explodo-Kills_."

She thought about it for a second before nodding her head in satisfaction. "That's a strong name― even Melon Lord will shake when he hears it! But it's pretty long. Do you mind if I just call you King?"

He was beginning to think that he shouldn't be shocked by the things that came out of her mouth anymore, but it didn't stop the feeling from flooding him anyways. Even if she had shortened the name down she hadn't dismissed it, saying that it was too scary or villainy to be a hero name. His grin became a little more smug, and he said, "Whatever floats your boat."

She smiled back at him. And then they were both running towards the little shed in attempt to beat Melon Lord's prying eyes.

* * *

"I let you go outside for a little bit and this is how you come back?" Chiyuki shook her head with a click of her tongue. "What on earth were you two even doing? Scavenging in a dumpster?"

The two in question studied the ground with the intent to look uninterested and definitely _not guilty_. They were covered in dirt from head to toe and there were stray pieces of the weeds from the empty lot tangled in Seiko's hair (if one were to actually look hard enough they would find exactly the same thing in Katsuki's as well). The little girl rubbed her cheek as if she were just wiping away a little dirt smudge, as if that would make a difference and appease her sister.

It, in fact, did no such thing.

"Well, explain yourself."

Seiko snuck a glance at Bakugo, whom was busy acting like he couldn't care less about the fact that he was a complete mess, and also ignoring the silent accusations coming from his parents. He peeked at her from the corner of his eye and in a split second they seemed to connect all over again. Their time at the secret base hadn't been long, but she knew that her hero had had fun fighting against her villain, and had even seemed to relax. She wouldn't ever regret getting dirty for that.

She looked up and met her sister's stern gaze, the woman's eyes constantly reminding her of burnt honey. And all she said was, "Melon Lord."

Chiyuki squinted at the little girl suspiciously before turning to the boy hoping he'd at least give a better explanation for their state, even if it was half-assed.

Katsuki paid her no heed as he just shrugged and repeated the little girl. "Melon Lord."

For a split second a smile cracked across his face, as if he had just found something amusing, but it disappeared just as quickly and Chiyuki couldn't be sure if she had seen it or not. Seiko giggled and pushed her way inside to go wash up. The spiky haired boy followed close behind, only briefly pausing to glance once more at the small shrine.

With a small dip of his head he made a promise to his future. ' _I_ will _become a better hero― for this kid, and for myself.'_

But before he could so much as take another step further his mother jumped him, pinching his cheeks tightly and screeching like a bat from hell in his face. " _Who are you and what have you done with my son?!_ "

Whatever air of tranquility Katsuki had been under vanished and he snapped in retaliation. "What the fuck get off of me you damn hag!"

"Don't you talk to me that way ya little punk or I'll kick your ass from one end of Japan and back again!"

"That's as far as you can go? _Hah_! Weakling― I'll blast you sky high before you can even fucking _try_."

As mother and son continued to bicker, the latter having gotten out of the woman's grasp and beginning to perform an extremely awkward dance of defense, Chiyuki with a rising confliction. On one hand she had been beginning to think that perhaps the boy wasn't so bad after all; he seemed to be able to maintain some semblance of calm around Seiko, and he willingly went along with the odd things that she did, and his parents weren't horrible people either. But on the other hand…

She cringed as Mitsuki landed a powerful blow on the back of the boy's head and then quickly trapped him in a headlock.

' _These people are insane!_ ' was all she could think.

Masaru sidled closer and gave her a sympathetic smile. "It's a weird way of showing it, but they really do love each other. They never actually mean each other harm," was all he said.

She could beg to differ on that just by watching the two interact. Yet, upon looking closer, she could see that there was a lot of self control on both parties parts. Even if it looked like they were going overboard they were still mindful enough to not do any lasting damage to the other.

It was strange, certainly, but…

' _If he can control himself like this around his mother then he must really love her,'_ she concluded. ' _Perhaps he really is a good guy."_

There was still something about the young man that made her uncomfortable― though that might have just been his foul mouth at this point ―Chiyuki couldn't help but silently grant the boy a passing grade.

Now she could only wait for time to tell if he was actually worth it.

* * *

 **First off I'd like to thank y'all for your suggestions and opinions! They were extremely helpful and I know what I'm going to do now in regards to Seiko and whether she'll remain quirkless or not. As for one-shot suggestions y'all can keep suggesting if you want, there were quite a few great ideas that I'll definitely be using in the future ;) Hopefully this chapter also cleared up a few of your guys's concerns for those of you that brought up Seiko's parents.**

 **Another question for you guys! Which characters do you want to see interact with Seiko in some of the future chapters? Other characters outside of class 1-A can be included in this. (Can't vote for Deku because let's face it, at this point their meeting is an absolute must and will happen pretty soon XD)**

 **Next chapter get ready for some quality Big Bro Bakugo content in: Sunny**

 **See you next time!**


	5. Sunny

Bakugo hadn't seen Seiko for approximately three days, and quite frankly, he couldn't make heads or tails over whether that concerned him or not.

On one hand it wasn't like the kid _had_ to come see him every day after school― he had never asked her to do so to begin with and he sure as hell wasn't ever going to. He had his own things to focus on in his life and she had… whatever a six year old considered important to focus on. It was as simple as that. But on the other hand Seiko's presence in general, while an incredibly odd one, was ridiculously easy to get used to and just as easy to notice its absence. And her no-show streak had been pointed out to him several times by complete strangers, much to his annoyance.

" _Your little sister hasn't stopped by in a while. She's not sick, is she?"_ they would ask.

" _How the fuck would I know? She's not my sister dammit!"_ he would respond.

" _You're that little girl's brother, right? How is she? I've been getting a bit worried since I haven't seen her for a couple days."_

" _How many times do I have to say this before you get it through your thick skulls― we're not fucking related!"_

" _Aw man, I miss your sister! She's so cute when she waves hello and tells us to keep up the good work. You'll tell her that we miss her, won't you?"_

" _Does the part where I keep repeating 'We're not siblings' mean nothing to you airheaded fuckwits?"_

And it just went on, and on, and _on_. They just kept on coming with their stupid repetitive questions and unnerving concern for, in their case, some random kid. Of course it didn't really help that all Seiko ever called him in front of others was ' _big bro_ ', but he didn't think it was _that_ difficult to tell that they weren't actually related. If anything, more than just convincing him that everyone around him were absolute morons, it led him to the conclusion that Seiko didn't possess even a _shred_ of common sense when it came to stranger danger― even if all the strangers around here were attending the same school as him with the intent to become a hero. Honestly, that kid was probably the biggest danger to herself all on her own.

' _Still…,'_ bright red eyes scanned the edge of the path for signs of either a little pink umbrella or a bright yellow hoodie. ' _The fact that she hasn't shown up by now is kind of weird. By now I would have had my ear talked off about some random thing she learned in school today or whatever.'_

Needless to say though, the little girl's disappearance threw him off.

But when he said he didn't know what happened to Seiko, or where she was― which was the truth ―he did have a pretty strong idea as to why she hadn't shown up. It didn't make him feel any better thinking about it though. As to what gave him his idea, well, it all came from a particular discussion that had been held the week before when he and his parents had gone over to the little girl's house for dinner.

* * *

Laughter, loud and raucous, erupted from the three adults that had chosen to remain seated at the table instead of moving for the more comfortable seats in the living room. They sounded more like old friends catching up after some time apart, casually sipping their coffee while trading wild stories that each of their families had endured. This particular round was one Katsuki did his damndest to ignore, not particularly thrilled with the fact that his mother felt the need to embarrass him by sharing something cringeworthy from his childhood with a stranger. Altogether it proved to be easier said than done; his mother had a particularly annoying and ugly laugh. It reminded him too much of a hyena.

' _Can't that hag find something to talk about that_ doesn't _involve me?_ ' he wondered sullenly as he watched Seiko go through a reenactment of one of her dramatic battles against her imaginary villain. The little girl dropped to the ground and began rolling, throwing her hand out to release invisible orbs at the enemy. Earlier, when he had asked, she had somewhat explained the concept of a machine that ejected paintballs with different purposes, saying it was modeled after some retro hero called ' _Moiya_ '. Since the little girl had no idea what kind of quirk she would get, or what she would even like to have (there were too many cool quirks after all), then the made up gadget was her default for the time being.

Seiko jumped up and raced around the couch. He craned his head around and watched as she held up her hand again, bracing it with the other as she yelled, "Freeze, villain!"

There came the high pitched ' _pew, pew, pews_ ' as she fired her weapon before charging out of the room with indignant cries, seemingly having already forgotten that this was just a ' _replay_ ' of a ' _previous episode'_ as she had referred to it. And apparently she had forgotten about him too.

' _She's such a space cadet,_ ' he scoffed to himself, folding his arms over his chest, and leaned back to rest on the couch to wait until either his parents decided to leave or Seiko came back. The second option struck him as having a better chance of winning.

"What a lively kid!" Mitsuki chortled. "She must have an equally energetic quirk to match that hyper personality of hers. Heaven knows that Katsuki's personality ended up matching his quirk."

Said boy pretended not to notice the pointed stare drilling holes through the back of his head, though he did grit his teeth at the dryness of her remark.

"Ah, no― it's all one hundred percent energy of a six year old. Seiko doesn't have a quirk…," Chiyuki hesitated, almost as if she were going add a ' _yet'_ at the end of that sentence, but something held her back. Bakugo cocked his head to the side, interested yet apprehensive as to where this conversation might lead.

"Well there's still time, I'm sure, unless you've already taken her to the quirk doctor?" Masaru said, more in thought than anything else, though when he realized his mistake he quickly jumped to correct it. "Sorry, I don't mean to pry."

No doubt Chiyuki was waving it off― she seemed to do that a lot, he'd noticed ―and she gave a mildly embarrassed huff. "I've been holdin' off on taking her to see the quirk doctor for a couple of reasons, but I can give a fairly good educated guess for myself on what the results would be. No one in our family has a quirk unless they're, like, some distant cousin or something. So…"

The woman sighed.

"I just want to let her enjoy imagining the possibilities― to be a kid that still sees it as an attainable dream to be like the super heroes she admires so much before the reality of it sets in."

There was shifting, and then his mother was trying to lift the heavy atmosphere with a little bit of good natured hope. "Genetics are a weird thing so I wouldn't just automatically assume, yeah? Katsuki has a friend from childhood― always a late bloomer to everything it seems ―but he got his quirk before entering high school, even after being deemed quirkless. You never know, your little sister might be the same."

Bakugo clenched his teeth, a slight twitch developing in his eye. There was still a sharp sting in both his pride and knowledge where it concerned that little detail. Even if Deku had given some half-assed explanation about the sudden appearance of his quirk it still didn't stop every fiber of his being from accusing the wimpy green haired boy of being a fucking dirty little liar. He wanted to whip around in his seat and start cussing both of them out― Midoriya and his mother ―but he held his tongue, slowly but finally edging into a disgruntled point of acknowledgment in the usefulness of the act.

"To be honest," Chiyuki spoke up again, much more quietly, after allowing for a moment of thoughtful silence, "I was actually thinking of taking her to see the quirk doctor on Monday, after we get her arm checked out. And― this is gonna sound awful of me, and hypocritical ―but I'm really hoping she'll turn out to be quirkless.

"As much as I would like to support Seiko's dream of becoming a hero, I also find myself wanting to keep her away from such a career. Being a hero's not all that it's cracked up to be. It's a dangerous way of living no matter which field you go into― quirk or no. And I just can't guarantee or even _trust_ that she'll be able to handle anything when the time comes for her to start making major decisions."

He couldn't believe he was hearing such utter _bullshit_. Being a hero isn't all that it's cracked up to be? Yeah, that much was obvious to anyone that even bothered to pay so much as half a cent of attention to the aftermath of any kind of battle, and it was an understandable concern, but seriously? As a general rule, most people knew what they were getting into the moment they decided they were going to try and go pro. They accepted the fact that there would be danger and chose to endure so that everyone else could be safe. What exactly did she expect the job of a hero to consist of― sunshine lollipops and fucking daisies? Give him a goddamn break.

And was this woman really chucking her sister's dreams under the bus by going so far as to say she couldn't even _trust_ Seiko in the future? What in the actual fuck? He may not of had much room to be judging, as he ended up being far worse in regards to Izuku, but he couldn't stop himself from violently rejecting Chiyuki's argument in this moment simply because of how _wrong_ it was. Especially after all that drivel she had said about wanting to let Seiko enjoy imagining a future as a hero.

A flicker of movement caught his eye, breaking his intense inner dissection of the many flaws in Chiyuki's argument. He looked up at the doorway that led to the main hall just as Seiko ducked back around it. She had only been there for a second, so it was difficult to tell, but he could have sworn he saw something akin to hurt on her tubby little face.

Katsuki ground his teeth and stood up, unfolding his arms to forcefully shove his hands into his pockets. He didn't bother to turn around as he addressed the group behind him, sharpening his words specifically for the young woman, while walking towards the hallway.

"You're thinking too deeply about an unknown future. Don't say shit based on how things are now and expect them to never change, especially without giving her a chance to prove her own potential and capability."

As soon as the words left his mouth his entire childhood, even up through middle school, with Izuku flashed through his mind and the heavy cloud struck him hard in the chest again. It almost felt like the memories were calling him out, yelling at him that he was the biggest fucking hypocrite in the history of hypocrites. Bakugo didn't let the guilt show, though, merely proceeding to block out his own accusing thoughts and the apologies his parents were serving to Chiyuki as he rounded the corner.

Seiko jumped the second he entered the hall, her amber eyes widening as she craned her neck back to stare up at him. Instead of seeing pain or dejection from hearing her sister's words he found that there was a weight of understanding blanketed over the child. She knew being quirkless was a permanent possibility, and a part of her showed her fears like darkness between splintering cracks, but the most important thing he saw was the echo of the declaration she had proclaimed to him: " _Then I'll just become the number one sidekick for the number one hero!"_

And that, to him, was admirably brave.

Bakugo studied her for a little longer before slipping a hand out of his pocket and, very hesitantly, reached out to pat her curly little head.

She dipped her head in compliance, so very used to the action itself, but peeked up again as soon as he stopped. For a second they stared at each other, and then Seiko grinned.

"Wanna see my posters?"

A little of the pressure dissipated within him and Bakugo shrugged.

"Sure."

* * *

He finally spotted the familiar yellow hoodie at the base of a tree, the little girl huddled up beneath it with an intense focus on something in her lap. Without particularly meaning to his pace quickened a fraction, eyes roaming over the child for some sort of sign to indicate distress or any other negative connotation of the word. The first noticeable thing was the fact that she blatantly ignored anyone that called out to her. She reacted to each person that said hello, of course, a miniscule jerk of her hand raising up and a slight shift of her head, a robotic reflex, but ultimately her attention remained focused on whatever was in her lap. The other thing that drew his attention as he got closer, was the number of visible bandaids that patterned any and all visible skin.

Eyes narrowing, Bakugo came to a halt a couple paces away from the child with a heavy frown pulling at his features.

"Where the fuck have you been, runt?"

A hint of gold flashed from beneath dark bangs, but she never actually raised her head to look up at him as she mumbled, "Hey big bro. Sorry I didn't come over, I was… busy."

He scrutinized her for what felt like a long time before letting out a deep sigh. Carelessly he allowed his backpack to slip from his shoulder and hit the ground with a heavy _whump!_ just before following closely after, settling himself against the tree not all that far from Seiko. The little girl quickly hurried to hide the item in her lap. Before it completely disappeared he caught sight of something red, and then a brand name for a company that sold art supplies― a sketchbook. Curious though he was, he held off on asking her about it in favor of demanding different answers.

"Don't lie," he growled as he reached over and pinched her cheek, careful to avoid any bandaids, giving it a little tug for extra measure. "Especially to me. Now try again."

Little hands batted his fingers away and she vigorously rubbed her cheek, still refusing to look at him, and now it almost seemed like she'd be unwilling to talk. Bakugo rolled his eyes before turning to glare at the sky.

"Well? We don't have all damn day."

Seiko inhaled sharply, and from his peripheral view he watched her fiddle around with a crayon in her hand. "I didn't want sis to be right," she whispered. "I didn't."

His shoulders slumped and suddenly it was as if he were adrift at sea; stuck in the middle of nowhere with a deep, vast expanse of the dangerous unknown surrounding him from all sides, leaving him completely and utterly alone. That was half of the worst part― not knowing how to deal with the situation and having no one to look to for some sort of help. The other half came from only knowing all the wrong things to say. It put a lump in his throat that was nearly impossible to swallow down.

So instead of saying something helpful, or inspiring, or even remotely comforting, he asked another question. "What's with all the bandaids?"

There came a sniffle and he glanced over to see Seiko wiping her nose with the back of her hand, an incredibly spiteful glare directed at her sketchbook marring her usually cheerful features.

"Got angry," she muttered. "An' bein' angry just makes me a clumsy, no good idiot."

He shifted until he was facing her, glaring harshly― though the action was not meant specifically for the child ―and ground his teeth together. His immediate reaction would have been to demand who had told her that, as the line was clearly not something she would have come up with about herself, but he already had a very good idea of just who might have called her such a thing. There were better questions to ask anyways.

"And what was making you angry?"

Something about the question felt ironic to him. Here he was, asking this kid what made her angry, when he himself had his own anger issues that needed to be addressed just as badly. If he wasn't busy trying to get to the bottom of this mystery then perhaps he would have laughed at himself.

Seiko opened her sketchbook, but kept it mostly obscured from his vision as she began to furiously scribble on the page. "Everyone's sayin' that 'cause I ain't got no quirk then I can't be a hero. They told me I'd just get in the way of the real ones and that I'd be so useless that I'd have to be saved all the time. Even my teacher said I had no business bein' a hero without a quirk."

A tick developed near his eye, the erratic twitching driving him insane just as much as the words running through his mind did the same. With a different perspective to a familiar hell sitting right next to him Bakugo came to understand an ugly truth: He had said the exact same damaging words and ultimately fucked over someone else's childhood. And now, while he had come to find himself on the opposite side of the coin, history was repeating itself yet again.

Suddenly Seiko stabbed her crayon into the sketchbook with a startling amount of viciousness, pushing down hard as she dragged it along the paper, creating a deep red scar. Her face was flushed and large tears had gathered at the corners of her eyes, yet she showed no sign of yielding to them despite the quivering of her lower lip.

"What's it matter if I have a quirk or not?! Before quirks there were all kinds of people that were heroes. And no one ever said they couldn't be a hero because they didn't have a superpower. They all thought those people were cool because they did brave and dangerous things to do what was right. So why can't I―"

She hiccuped, her voice pitching higher as she hurried to wipe away a few escaping tears. " _So why can't I be a hero too?_ "

Bakugo inhaled sharply, the air catching in his throat. Part of him knew that the reason why was because, as a given, the twenty percent of the population that was born without a quirk was weaker than the rest who _were_ born with quirks, a minority. And as a minority they were not given nearly the same amount of equal opportunity to thrive along with the rest of society. Certainly there were jobs that were still technically considered hero jobs that quirkless people could apply for, but there wasn't entirely much merit to it when everything was overshadowed by the Pro Heroes anyways. That was just the way the world turned.

Or at least that was how he used to view it. To his surprise Bakugo found the other part of himself silently demanding the answers to that very question along with Seiko. Why _couldn't_ she be a hero? Just because she didn't have a quirk didn't mean it ruled out her potential. Potential, if given the time to be worked with and molded properly, could give way to skill. Skill could wind up being what wound up being the most important deciding factor in any given situation. In the end it all gave way to credible capability, the trust of many, and the right to claim, " _I did it. To all who said I couldn't, I. Did."_ And if he were to be completely honest with himself every time he looked into her eyes he saw a kind of potential that not even he had, though he wasn't sure he could properly explain it even if he wanted to.

"You _can_."

Those words― words that he had uttered to no one but himself ―slipped away from him without a second thought to stop them. They startled him nearly as much as they'd startled Seiko.

"You _can_ be a hero," Bakugo said again, turning his head to clear his throat. "And you already are... sort of. Even if you're quirkless you've got something weird that makes people smile and want to be happy; a positive vibe that makes people feel… Sunny. Not everyone can do that, y'know. As for the ones that say otherwise then they can just fuck off."

It wasn't his most eloquent delivery considering he was not one for comforting others, but she could get the message, right? The two looked at each other, a deep crimson that somehow appeared lighter and calmer than it ever had, and an amber that was splashed with hazel patterns, teary but bright and hopeful. Seiko gave a wide, toothy smile while using the back of her hand again to wipe her face.

Bakugo rolled his eyes, his nose wrinkling. Blindly he reached for his bag, pulling it into his lap to look for a disposable napkin. (He never kept them on himself, considering it too much of a hassle as well as unnecessary since he hardly ever needed them anyways.)

"Gross, use a napkin," he said as he handed her the said toiletry. The child giggled while taking it and blew her nose. By the time she was done Bakugo had made another surprising decision.

Standing up, he gestured for the kid to follow him. "Alright, let's go."

"Go where?"

"A once in a lifetime surprise. Don't ever expect me to do this again, got it runt?"

She gave him a confused look but nodded anyways. Bakugo grunted in approval and together they walked down the road. They went until they reached the end, where it led into a main vein that connected the school to the rest of the city. Instead of continuing his on his way like usual the young man detoured to the right to where a very cheap convenience store sat in wait for exhausted students who were in need of a fast refreshment. He made Seiko wait near the front before disappearing behind a rack of snacks.

Humming to her herself, the little girl bounced from foot to foot, clutching her sketchbook closely to her chest. She felt loads better after talking with big bro. After she had found out she was quirkless the disappointment hit her hard, and she couldn't help but get sad about it. Then she had begun to wonder if Bakugo would even let someone without a quirk become his sidekick and it just made her feel even worse; avoiding him that first day had seemed like the best option at the time, though she couldn't stop thinking about how shameful that was. The day after that she'd confided in Zeke and Lau― a big mistake ―and they told the whole class and scribbled mean things all over her drawings. She got mad, especially when she saw what they did to the picture of her costume, and started a fight that she lost.

The icky feelings kept piling up within her, and the nastier she felt the more she started to get mad at anyone with a quirk― she had even hurt Taz's feelings. It didn't help at home either when her sister tried to persuade her to find something else to grow up into. The larger the emotions grew the more she resented being denied a fair chance to even try and reach for her dream. She hated those that kept telling her she couldn't, when there were so many other people like her from before that _could_. She hated it because it didn't make any sense. Why was she any different from them?

And so, when Bakugo had said those simple little words, the anger had no room to stay in her heart.

' _You can._ '

"I can," she mumbled to herself with a giddy little smile. "I _can_."

"Oi space-brain, let's go." Bakugo held the door open and impatiently gestured at her to move it. A small plastic bag dangled from his wrist, swaying in time with his movements. The second they were both outside the blonde dug into the bag and pulled out one red, frozen treat.

"A popsicle!" Seiko blurted.

"Yeah yeah, here you go." He broke the dessert in half and handed her a stick with a reminder. "It's just this once though, okay?"

The little girl smiled as she reached out to take the popsicle from him, chirruping, "Okay! Thank you!"

They stood off to the side of the building, enjoying the treat, the warming spring air, and the peace that came with it all. Bakugo watched in amusement as the child struggled keep the quickly melting food from dripping everywhere, the red smears that were left behind giving a nightmarish result across the child's face. Still, she was happy, and that was a success for him as a hero, wasn't it?

"You really are a sunny person no matter what you do, aren't you?" he mused aloud. Seiko stopped mid-bite, a weird look flashing across her face before brightening.

"That's it!" she shouted gleefully. "My hero name! It's Sunny!"

' _Fuck that's―,_ ' he quickly ran a hand over his face to suppress the twitching (a.k.a the attempt to smile) that overcame him. '― _cute_.'

He was definitely right about her. There was just something weird about everything she did that made it so damn hard _not_ to smile at. It was contagious, and almost every fiber of his being screamed at him to avoid the contagious thing, but what the hell was he supposed to do when it was constantly hanging out around him? The answer: Not a damn thing. Because more than likely, Seiko would find a way to get around whatever he did.

And oddly, that didn't sound like such a bad thing to him.

"Sunny and King, crime fighters supreme! Watch out Melon Lord! We're coming at you stronger than ever!" Seiko punched and kicked at the air, flinging cherry colored droplets as she went. The little girl turned to him with a gleam in her eye. "Come on, let's hurry. There's a park close by, we'll be able to catch the villain if we go through there."

Bakugo hesitated for a second. He should have been on his way home by now and he had homework to do…

"Ah fuck it. Let's go." It wouldn't put a dent in anything if he stuck around for another ten minutes.

"Yeah! Eat flaming paint Melon Lord!"

* * *

 **Bonus:**

Clean up duty had never really been Tsuyu's favorite after school activity, but she never made a fuss about it. It was necessary work much like taking care of her siblings was. Thankfully because she was so used to cleaning up then organizing the classroom had been a breeze and she was able to go home with the last of the students leaving school premises. The silence that joined her on her walk was comfortable, though she would have also liked to have gone home with everyone else. Having friends to fill the spaces between was a very nice thing indeed.

At the end of the road the young frog turned down the path just after a small convenience store. She wanted to get home fairly quick so she could change out of her uniform and get started on her homework, so that meant using the trail that went by the park would cut down her walk time by half. It was a very efficient short cut in her opinion.

Up ahead there came the sounds of children playing.

" _Ack!_ Melon Lord got me, King!"

Tsuyu smiled to herself. ' _Sounds like someone's having fun._ '

"You're not allowed to die on me Sunny." Another, more familiar snarl ripped through the air, causing the girl to freeze in her tracks. She stared in surprise at a tree just ahead of her, trying to calculate the odds that if she had really heard Bakugo's voice, then she would also find him on that other side of the tree… playing?

Hesitantly Tsuyu edged forward. The sight that greeted her was no more expected than the likelihood of Mineta turning around and straightening his morals by abandoning his lascivious ways. When she had suspected Bakugo of playing there hadn't even been an image to accompany the improbable notion― at best it was the 404 error code that appeared when a computer malfunctions. To actually see it was certainly something that made her wonder if she needed to get her eyes checked.

Bakugo was crouched on the ground awkwardly cradling a little girl with one arm, a fierce glare on his face as per usual. The child dramatically clutched at her yellow hoodie and stared up at him with a surprisingly convincing pained look on her face.

"Avenge me and defeat Melon Lord in my place," she croaked just before going limp with a comical ' _bleh_ ' to signify her death.

Bakugo raised his fist and shouted at thin air. "You bastard! I'll kill you!"

A large hand flew to her mouth to stifle the giggle, but it was too late. The sound caught the angry blonde's attention and his head whipped around. Mortification danced across Bakugo's features as he recognized her, the blood in his face draining before quickly returning and glowing brightly, his entire body turning to stone. Furious red eyes pinned her down and Tsuyu blanched.

' _Not one word,_ ' the look seemed to say. ' _Not one fucking word or you're dead. You saw nothing, so just walk away.'_

More than happy to oblige to the silent demands the frog girl hurried on her way, not even daring to cast another look back. But as Tsuyu walked out of the park she couldn't help but think about the strange thing she had witnessed. Placing a finger close to her lips, her gaze drifted upwards and she smiled to herself once again.

' _That was cute_ , - _ribbit._ '

* * *

 **Sorry, the old Bakugo can't come to the phone. Why? Because he's dead. /slapped**

 **Hey shouting out some honorable mentions to MerhppDerhpp and TheHolyBlade for their suggestions (which I kinda tweaked), definitely enjoyed working with those, and I'll enjoy working on some of the others that were suggested. (I saw that angst one and I just― I'm such a sucker for angst haha :') )**

 **Next chapter: Bakusquad**

 **See you then!**


	6. Bakusquad

" _Did you hear? Apparently there was an attack on the USJ while a class was being held. No one seems to have been seriously hurt― except one student, I think ―but…"_

" _Those poor first years…"_

These were the words that Seiko had heard on accident. While she was on her way back from the bathroom she'd passed the staff lounge and overheard a couple teachers talking― _gossiping_ as her sister would say. At first it hadn't meant anything to her, but then she began to think it through. USJ― the Unforeseen Simulations Joint, not Universal Studios Japan, she thought ―was a place where heroes in training learned how to rescue people from nature's tantrums (as Chiyuki had once explained). But according to the teachers this place had been attacked by bad guys and someone had gotten hurt. And suddenly it had meant a lot to her.

These were also the words that wouldn't stop ringing in her ears, even long after she had heard them. It bothered Seiko much the same as hearing thunder rumbling in the dead of night. Whenever thunder broke the world with its cacaphonic booming the little girl believed something terrible would come with it. Those words were thunder, and they leaked her fears into her imagination like the rain that would follow after.

She wanted to believe with all her heart that her big bro was alright― that it wasn't his class that had been at the USJ today, that he wasn't the one who had been hurt. But bad scene after bad scene wriggled in her mind like a can of worms. What if big bro had broken all the bones in his body or suffered through sharp objects stabbing through his stomach and chest? What if the building had collapsed? What if big bro had gotten trapped under the rocks or had hit his head?

What if Melon Lord had been the one to attack, knowing it was better to do so while the general was separated from the leader? What if he had tried to take away big bro too?

Her little heart thumped painfully against her ribs and tiny hands clasped the spot with great force in an effort to keep the organ from beating its way out of her chest. Her eyes burned and blurred, turning the landscape lit by the golden-orange light of the descending sun into a blazing fire. The child buried her face against her knees in an attempt to block it out; breath hitching, body shaking, nose running, and thunder echoing in her thoughts.

"No more," Seiko whispered. "Don't take anyone else no more."

A shadow fell over her and a soft, worried voice interrupted her thunderous thoughts. "What's wrong? Are you lost?"

Seiko jumped, looking up and through watery eyes for the voice that had spoken to her. The first thing that she noticed was the poofy mop of green hair― which almost appeared black in contrast with the fiery glow of the sunset ―followed by noticing the uniform the boy wore. It was exactly the same as big bro's, but not nearly as untidily put together as his. Seiko sniffed once, rubbed her eyes and scrambled to her feet.

She pointed an unsteady finger and asked him with a stuffy voice, "Y-you go to this school right?"

The boy looked back in the direction he had just come from and then back at her with a nod and a small but confused smile. The little girl edged closer to him. A glimmer of hope sparked in her chest, calming the anxious beat of her heart and shushing the thunder enough so she could hear properly.

"I'm waitin' for big bro to make sure he's okay! Do you know if he was the one who got hurt?"

"Who is your big brother?" he asked kindly, guessing right away that she was waiting for someone from his class. It seemed she didn't know that everyone had been sent home early because of today's attack. Crouching, the boy put himself at eye level with the child. Light green eyes studied her curiously while a nagging suspicion built up in the back of his mind. Could this kid be…?

The little girl's face brightened automatically, a sort of innocent pride dominating her face as she opened her mouth, though her anxiousness was still apparent in the way she fidgeted. She clearly admired this person.

"His name's Bakugo! Do ya know 'im?" She crossed her arms behind her back and began bouncing back and forth on the balls of her feet. Talking to this boy made her feel a little bit better, and her head wasn't so filled with dark clouds and thunder anymore, though they had only just met.

Midoriya blinked slowly, his suspicion confirmed. So this _was_ the little kid that Mina had said Kacchan was being nice to. Of course, he also knew about her through another kind of fame among the rest of the student population, outside of 1-A. According to the rumors there was a little girl that waited outside the school gates for her big brother, but in the time that she waited for him she would wave to the students passing by and encourage them to keep up the good work. She was a refreshing bit of motivation, he had heard.

Even so, this was the first time Midoriya was meeting her himself. The kid was usually gone before he left school grounds. Yet here she was, still waiting long after school normally got out. If he hadn't already found her looking ready to cry then that would have been enough to tell him how worried she was. Knowing that he needed to assure the little girl that her idol was okay Midoriya smiled and began talking about the boy who had shown a heroic side to himself today. It was something he knew always made him feel better when he worried about All Might.

"Kacchan is really cool when he fights, you know? And brave too. He stood up to a lot of villains today." He recalled the way Bakugo came barreling in, knocking the warp gate user to the ground and kept him pinned in place. Kacchan had always been fierce, but it really was something different to see that energy at work in the line of action.

Seiko was hooked and hanging onto each word the green haired boy said to her. She imagined big bro, surrounded a hundred to one, taking each villain down with a wild grin on his face and his crimson eyes blazing. Deep within, past her worry and fears, the little girl _knew_ her big bro was capable of winning against the odds. She _knew_ he was strong, and smart, and a _true_ _hero_. Seiko almost felt silly now for getting so upset and fearing the worst. Of course big bro was okay! He was gonna be the number one hero, and nothing would get in his way.

The little kid beamed brightly at the boy as he ruffled her hair with a bandaged hand, saying, "Kacchan is alright, so you don't have to worry anymore, okay?"

Seiko vigorously nodded her head, bursting out, "Thanks― uh… Um…" Her enthusiasm vanished just as quickly as it came when she realized she had no idea who she was talking to. Her round face screwed up as she gave the boy a confused look and asked who he was.

"I'm Midoriya. Midoriya Izuku." He chuckled lightly, amused with how energetic she was.

"And I'm Yoshida Seiko! Nice to meet ya Izukkun!" She pointed at herself with her thumb before lunging and trapping the boy in a hug. Izuku may not have jumped into a river and saved her from drowning, but he was still a hero in her book; a hero of feelings, making the thunder and worry go away with good words and a sunny smile. And as was beginning to become Seiko's customary way of thanking a hero, he was deserving of a hug.

Releasing him after a few seconds and an extra squeeze for good measure, Seiko bounced away, glancing towards the sky. The sun was rapidly disappearing behind the large school, casting blueish shadows that stretched almost to where she and Izukkun stood. Even if there wasn't a clock to tell her Seiko knew that this was near the time her sister should be coming home― if she wasn't home already. She was going to get in trouble if she didn't hurry back soon.

Seiko turned and began to dash towards home as fast as her short legs would go, yelling over her shoulder, "I gotta go now! Bye!"

Izuku waved as the little girl sped off, feeling pleased with himself for being able to help. He stood up, absently tracking the child while his curiosity led him towards a thoughtful stupor. It was amazing, the fact that Bakugo hadn't driven the little girl away. Even if he could be nice, consistency of that kind didn't really seem to fit into the mold he had made for himself. Bakugo was coarse and short tempered, and Seiko's optimistic energy seemed like something that would drive him crazy.

' _There has to be something about her,_ ' he mused. ' _Something that not even Kacchan could resist._ '

As he thought this, Seiko stopped running. She cocked her head to the side for a second before twirling around. The fading sunlight seemed to hone in on her and the little girl seemed to glow. With a large, merry smile and a tiny hand waving vigorously in the air she called out to him.

"Keep up the good work, Izukkun! You're gonna be an _awesome_ hero!"

A flash of heat bloomed across his face and Seiko began running again, taking the shine of the sun with her.

In that moment Izuku thought he understood Kacchan a little better, but all he could think was, ' _Oh._ '

* * *

"Is it my turn yet?" Seiko whined, bouncing from foot to foot as she struggled to see who was winning, and, subsequently, if the game was over yet.

Zeke and Lau bobbed from side to side as they moved with their controllers, often knocking into each other with a good amount of obnoxious snickering. Around them the sounds of other game machines beeped and buzzed, chimed and sang and rang for winners. Seiko temporarily abandoned her fruitless attempt to see the screen her friends were using and looked around wistfully at the other games. Zeke had insisted they come to the arcade today instead of going to the park, saying they'd play all the games and win a bunch of tickets, but so far the only game he and Lau had played was _Double Dragon_ over and over again. And they haven't let her have a turn even once!

The little girl puffed up her cheeks and exhaled heavily, blowing her bangs out of her eyes for a few seconds. She scowled at the two boys when they didn't answer her before sharply turning on her heels to stomp down the aisle. Those two jerks could keep playing their stupid game. There were other games― games that actually gave tickets ―that she wanted to play anyways.

Today was a busy day though. Other kids, all of them bigger and most definitely older than her, were clustered together around the different machines. Everyone was loud and enjoying themselves. She passed a group that was playing a racing game. And another that was shooting hoops, or spraying down clown faces with water guns, or tossing little bouncy balls at targets. The only game that didn't appear to be taken was a single lane of skeeball at the very end of the aisle. Seiko hurriedly skipped to it with the intent to claim it before someone else did.

Shoving her hand into her pocket the little girl eagerly fished out a couple of coins― only for them to slip from her butter fingers and roll away.

"Ah! No come back!" Seiko ran after the money, stomping her feet every time she neared the run away coins. This took her around one of the machines and right into someone's leg. As the child fell on her rear the coins bounced off a thick combat boot and spun to a clinking stop. Undeterred, the little girl scrambled to snatch the coins before anything else could happen.

"Whoa, you okay there?" Before Seiko could do anything― like, say, bask in the victory of _finally_ catching the coins, or even apologizing to the stranger ―a pair of rather large hands had found their way beneath her arms and the next thing she knew she was being hoisted from the ground.

"There, standing like a champ already!"

The little girl looked up with both an apology and a thank you tumbling out of her mouth, but the words quickly died as she took in the sight of red horn-haired boy grinning down at her. Her mouth fell open, stunned by how cute and familiar the big kid was. She _knew_ this boy― he was big bro's super nice friend!

"Cute dragon!" Seiko gasped, pointing at him with mounting excitement. Yeah, this was the boy whose quirk could harden his skin so it was as tough as dragon scales! Along with the horns in his hair, and his super sharp teeth then he was like a human-dragon-dude! With all of those things going for him then it had only been logical, in Seiko's opinion, to refer to him as the ' _cute dragon_ ' whenever she thought of him.

Meanwhile said boy was busy attempting to discern which part of the little girl's declaration deserved what reaction. Was his face on fire because she called him cute or because she called him a dragon? Which part should he be more proud for being called: Cute or Dragon? _Why_ had she called him a cute dragon? And there was so much confidence in the statement it was almost as if she knew him! Wait― she didn't know him, did she?

Kirishima peered a little closer, taking in everything from the messy black hair obscuring amber eyes, to the dull but sunny yellow hoodie. And like the flick of a light switch it clicked.

"Seiko?"

The child beamed in response and he couldn't help but reciprocate the sentiment. It had felt like a long time since he last saw the kid, although in actuality it had only been a few days. After Seiko's disappearance― which, despite asking Bakugo what had happened and being brushed off, he had no clue as to why she vanished ―the little girl had made quite the notable effort to make up for the lost time. At this point she had become a one man cheer squad for the entire Yuuei student body. But the world seemed a little brighter because of it.

Yet not long after then the school itself had been thrown for a loop and nearly tossed to the wolves. With the attack on USJ setting the school out of commission for almost two days then no one had been able to do anything, and then with the news of the Sports Festival coming up then everyone had gotten down to business focusing on training.

But today Kirishima had plans to do just one, normal, typical high schooler activity before he committed himself to one of the most intense training regiments of his life. Needless to say that this was a pleasant addition to said plans, though.

"What brings you here kiddo?" Kirishima slid his hands into his pockets as he continued to give the little girl a sharp grin.

Like unlocking the floodgate, as his Pop would often say about chatty people. Seiko took a deep breath before opening her mouth and instantly Kirishima knew that he was in for a long explanation.

"Well me 'n Zeke 'n Lau wanted to go out and do somethin' fun today cause it's Saturday and Saturdays' are for playin' out of the neighborhood," she began matter-of-factly. "I wanted to go and play Heroes at the big park 'cause I got a new Moiya umbrella and wanted to beat up Melon Lord with it. But Zeke said his ma was gonna take him into town to come here and play at the arcade and said that's where was gonna go. He also said we'd play a lotta games and collect so many tickets that we'd be able to buy one of the big prizes, but he 'n Lau ain't done nothin' but play Double Dragon since we got here. And I ain't even had a turn yet! So I was gonna play Ski Ball but my coins jumped outta my hands and here we are!"

Seiko threw her hands up in the air, finishing with a huff and a pink face. He quirked an eyebrow, chuckling. "Really? That doesn't sound very fair of your.. er, friends."

To be honest that didn't even sound like the kids were actually _friends_. This Zeke person must have been the head of the group, calling all the shots like he did, and Lau was the kid in between him and Seiko― nothing short of a follower, really. As for the little girl… Just from that dissertation alone it sounded more like the girl was merely being _allowed_ to be apart of their group. Like popular kids keeping a ' _nobody_ ' around for show, among other things. A bully's pet, if he were to go so far.

Now he understood better why Bakugo had shown nothing but contempt at the mention of Seiko's ' _friends'_.

The little girl lowered her arms and scuffed the floor with a green boot. She shrugged a couple of times. "It's nothin' new. They can be jerks sometimes but they're still my best friends."

' _Uh-uh. Nope. Objection!_ ' he wanted to yell out. He knew what best friends were supposed to be like― how they acted, how they made him feel, what they would do for him and he they in return ―and what she had were most definitely _not_ people worthy of possessing the title of a best friend. Something needed to be done to rectify that, and Kirishima knew just where to start.

"Well if your friends aren't gonna play with you how about you come and play with me and my friends?" He held out a hand while pointing over his shoulder with the other. Then a bit more slyly he added, "There's someone there who I'm sure would be happy to see you."

Well, happy was probably an incorrect choice in words considering _who_ it was, but in any case it caused Seiko's eyes to light up. He could practically see the dots connecting in her mind and the realization began to show in the form of an excited bounce. The little girl eagerly took his outstretched hand, chirping her agreement.

The two of them began to walk down the aisle where everyone was fired up entertaining themselves.

Kaminari was the first to notice him. "Dude what took you so lo― Where'd the kid come from?"

"If you haven't noticed already we're surrounded by kids." Sero, focusing so intently on his game of Pac-Man that he almost looked bored, commented dryly. "It's almost like we're in a place where they're known to congregate."

The blonde shot his friend an overly shocked look, gasping and daintily covering his mouth. " _Really_? I never would have guessed! What would I ever do without you around, Captain Obvious."

Seiko looked up at Kirishima and giggled. The older boy shook his head, rolling his eyes as he watched Sero puff out his chest and point his already long nose a little higher in the air. He cut in before the two could take their bantering a step further.

"Do you guys know where Blasty went? There's someone here who'd like to see him."

The duo shrugged simultaneously. "He wandered off muttering about how he was wasting his time here or something." Kaminari waved his hand behind him exasperatedly.

"He's getting a soda!" A cheery voice announced, and seconds later a pink floof appeared at his side. Mina's dark eyes peered curiously around him and she beamed innocently at the little girl. "Hey there little cutie, you wouldn't happen to be the kid that waits for Grouchy after school, would you?"

Seiko stared in awe at the pink wonder before her with her mouth slightly agape. She's seen a lot of colorful people in her time (short as it was) and it never ceased to amaze her the individuality a single quirk could give to a person. (And it probably never would, either.) There've been blue heroes― Moiya was a fine example ―green heroes, red, gold, brown and black. Heroes that were a rainbow. Heroes that were colorless. But this was her first time seeing such a straight up fluffy, pretty, _pink_ hero. It was like looking at a cartoonish butterfly in human form!

" _Whoa!_ What's your quirk miss? Do you have wings? Why're you pink? Are you learning to be a hero too? Do you have any special attacks? What's your hero name?" Kirishima's hand was abandoned in a flash as the little girl practically materialized in front of Mina, a dozen questions spewing from her mouth at rapid fire. Delighted at the sudden show of tenacity, Mina couldn't help but laugh and turn a little violet in the face as she crouched down to be at eye level with the kid. This girl reminded her of Midoriya. _A lot_.

Luckily Mina was the Queen of rapid communication. "Name's Mina! Quirk: Acid― No I don't have wings, the acid from my quirk makes me pink, yes I'm learning to be a hero, no special attacks yet, and I was thinking maybe ' _Alien Queen_ ' for a hero name."

If the kid's eyes could get any wider, she wouldn't have much of a face to speak of. " _Neat-o!_ Although I think you look more like a Lady Butterfly than an Alien Queen, 'cause your hair's all super floofy and― and your horns are like butterfly antenna. Oh, and I'm Yoshida Seiko, but _my_ hero name's Sunny!" She leaned in closer and brought her voice to a whisper, grinning. "Big bro helped me come up with that."

' _That's incredibly domestic for Bakugo,_ ' Mina couldn't help but think, ' _yet it fits her like a glove!'_

A shadow fell over them and the two looked up to see Sero with his hands on his hips. Despite the serious posture it was obvious that he was trying hard not to laugh. "Wait, hold the fire. So you're the kid that's been managing to tame Blasty McSplodes-a-lot? Hello and how do you do that?!"

He knelt down and held out his hand. Seiko's eyes were resolutely glued to the bulbous projections coming out of his elbows to even notice it, let alone the words coming out of his mouth. Grabby hands instantly kicked in and she completely skipped over his outstretched hand to begin examining what was obviously going to become her next obsession for the next few minutes.

"What's this? How does it work?"

"I'm sensing a theme here," Sero mouthed before eagerly turning to explain the mechanics of his tape arms. Unfortunately he never got the chance to start.

"What the hell? What are you doing here runt?" And just like that Seiko vanished yet again. Everyone turned to watch her run towards Bakugo, who had finally deigned to return. At some point Kirishima had gone off and retrieved him.

"Big bro!" Seiko skidded to a halt just before she collided into Katsuki's legs, bouncing up and down full of giggles galore.

All Bakugo could see was a curly haired puppy yapping excitedly at his feet and it put him at a loss as to what to do with it. Seiko quickly settled down― but not enough that it wouldn't be apparent that she was still buzzingly overjoyed ―and he could finally use his glare without feeling marginally guilty about it.

"You didn't answer my question," he growled.

The little girl hid her hands behind her back and attempted to appear casual. "It's an arcade. Kids are known to _con-gre-grate_ here."

Behind her Kaminari and Sero came exceedingly close to mimicking a pack of hyenas. Bakugo opened and closed his mouth a couple times but once again found that he was powerless to respond in his preferred scathing manner. She had just used sarcasm without realizing it and now those two idiots were laughing and encouraging her for it; how was one _supposed_ to respond to that? Oh, and don't forget the big round eyes that symbolized everything good and pure working in tandem with the goofy grin. What was there for him to be mad at with a power combo like that in play?

"Real cute," he muttered dryly. He eyed Seiko as she hopped closer still. She hesitated for a split second before raising her arms up, bouncing back and forth on the tips of her toes. Dumbly, he stared at her, and everyone else stared at him. Watching. Waiting to see what he would do.

In his mind he was instantly classifying this moment as a Class A Danger; a trap. If he picked her up― in front of a damning audience like this ―then he was showing some kind of weakness, it would feel like. If he didn't then not only would he be faced with Seiko's disappointment (he _did_ catch that hesitation), but more than likely he wouldn't hear the end of the underhanded comments about his assholish ways. In the end he was put at a personal stalemate. Bakugo didn't do well with stalemates.

Bakugo was also not the kind to take trivial matters like this into consideration, yet here he was. His social plan usually revolved around acting first, thinking later. As a result the moment he had begun his high school career the little social life he'd had before all but vanished. Everyone could go die in a hole for all he cared.

But… in order to better himself as Seiko's hero, he was trying.

Still, he wasn't going to outright spoil the kid by holding her. She was a big girl and honestly he didn't need another reason for people to mistake him as her older brother.

"I'm not picking you up," he groused.

"Well get down here then," the kid responded stubbornly, "cause I wanna give you a hug."

Or else a wild third option would appear to trap him just when he thought he could get away with going for one of the lesser evils. Damn this kid for being unintentionally witty when it counted.

And then the brat had the audacity to scowl at him! The annoying little voice in the back of his head promptly informed him that this is what came of letting her hang around. Monkey see, monkey do after all.

Bakugo huffed before giving in and crouching down. As Seiko latched onto him he fixed everyone with a dour stare and a silent promise that he would murder them all in their sleep if they started spreading weird rumors about him because of this.

"I'm glad you're okay," Seiko suddenly whispered, her voice somewhat muffled through his coat. Katsuki opened his mouth to demand what the hell she was talking about, but really he didn't need to ask. The attack at USJ was still a recent event in everyone's minds. Anybody that was anyone had found out about within the hour of it happening, it came as no surprise that Seiko had learned of it. With one thing coming right after another he hadn't been able to wonder about how the kid was feeling though.

If he had to make a guess now, however, then she must have been pretty worried.

His face grew warm and reflexively he ducked his head. "Yeah, yeah…," he mumbled and awkwardly wrapped an arm around her as well. "Not like a bunch of half-rates could take the King down or anything."

She giggled. "Right! Nothing can take King down!"

Bakugo nodded, a grin testing itself at the corners of his mouth.

"Damn straight."

* * *

 _Meanwhile, lurking nearby:_

"Aren't we gonna tell her it's time to go?" Lau, a lanky boy for a six year old, who also possessed the world's worst fidgeting habit thanks to his flexible limbs, curiously asked the boy next to him.

Zeke glowered darkly as he watched Sei-chan amidst the throng of big kids, laughing it up while they moved on to play a game. He had invited her to come and play with him and Lau not _them_. The little boy's dark expression shifted with a smile as he turned away from the scene.

"Nope!" He popped the 'p', showering his fat lips with a little spittle. "And we're gonna tell my mom that she already got picked up, got it?"

Zeke considered himself an expert on the phrase ' _payback'_ ― something Sei-chan should have been all too aware of at this point. Oh well. It wasn't his fault she was too dumb to have seen this coming.

Lau shrugged. Honestly, he couldn't care less. Sure, Sei-chan was fun to play with but she wasn't _really_ his friend. She was like his pet monkey Xinyi― entertaining. The things he and Zeke would make her do could chase the boredom away any day.

And this? This was gonna be _really_ funny.

* * *

"Woo! Who's ready to face the Queen of Dance next? The undefeated Lady of the Floor?" Mina cheered as she balanced on the bar hanging off the DDR machine. To the other side of her Kaminari stumbled off the dais, his legs jelly and brain more on the fritz than when he overexerted his quirk.

Further on Sero blanched. "Sorry Mina, but I chose life."

"I'm not playing that stupid game," Bakugo grouched.

Seiko sought to intervene before Kirishima could offer to face the pinkette for round two. She threw both hands in the air and bounded forward. "Me! Me! I wanna turn!"

Mina smiled at the little girl, setting herself down and making a move to get the game ready.

"Aha! A brave challenger!" she winked at Seiko. "Just be warned: I won't go easy on you."

The child scrambled onto the dance pad, furiously brushing her hair out of her eyes as a determined air settled over her. She nodded and Mina fed the machine a few more coins before starting her selection on the settings. However, Seiko had a different idea in mind.

"Wait! Not Easy! I wanna do it on your level."

The pinkette gave her challenger a concerned look. "You sure you wanna play on Expert? It's _reeeaallly_ difficult you know."

In response the kid gave her a look that said she knew what she was about. Mina glanced at Bakugo over her shoulder and he glared in response, crossing his arms over his broad chest.

"The fuck you looking at me for? If the runt says she wants to play Death mode then let her. It'll serve her right when she attends her own funeral."

She glanced at the other three and received no support. With a defeated sigh she shrugged it off and put the game on Expert mode. A song was picked and then there were only a few seconds to prepare herself.

As for Seiko…

 _ **Destroyer Mode: Engaged**_

When the arrows began to fly across the screen the child pulled forth energy that many adults have speculated as a reserve that could syphon off everyone in the nearby vicinity in order to give a single kid the ability to remain active for hours on end without tiring. The little girl became a blur as she hopped from arrow to arrow. Anybody watching her was floored.

Denki fell to his knees and pulled at his hair. Kirishima openly gawked.

" _The power of Christ compels you. The power of Christ compels you. The power of Christ compels you._ " Sero, hardly a religious man, was repeatedly forming the cross while muttering the mantra as he eyed what was clearly a child channeling some kind of speed demon.

Bakugo simply wanted to know why she was good at this but tripped over literally _everything else._

But with great power comes a great cost.

At the end of what one might consider a rampage everything for the two players on the dance pad began to finally slow down. For Mina she was breathless and starting to feel the strain of dancing for three games in a row. For Seiko the world began to spin when she finally let go of her breath with a loud gasp. She fell onto her butt none too gracefully and proceeded to watch the black spots dance around.

"You're supposed to breathe dumbass." Bakugo clicked his tongue as he sauntered closer, leaning against the railing. "Otherwise you're just asking to pass out."

A corner of his mouth quirked up. "Still, that wasn't bad for a runt."

" _Wasn't bad_ , he says," Kaminari muttered simultaneously alongside Sero. "Wasn't bad? That was insa―"

"That was awesome way to go Sei-ko!" Kirishima pumped his fist in the air. "I didn't think anyone could take on Mina and survive."

Said girl crouched down and held out her hand for a high five. "Those were some slick moves kiddo! High five!"

Seiko raised her hand to meet demands but quickly rerouted it to cover her mouth as she yawned. At this everyone grew aware that it was getting later and that they still had other things to do. After Kirishima checked his phone and announced to group that it was a quarter after five they had all unanimously agreed that it was best they start heading home.

Upon hearing the time the little girl suddenly became serious. Ignoring the wooziness that lingered on from her (triumphant) battle she scrambled towards the other aisle where she had last left Zeke and Lau. Zeke's mom said she'd be picking them up at _four_ , but if it really was the time Kirishima had said then either Zeke's mom was late or…

There was no sign of either of the boys at the Double Dragon machine. She frantically checked the other rows but found no trace of her friends.

Either Zeke's mom was late, or they had left without her.

The panic of the situation hadn't set in just yet, but it was definitely waiting to. Seiko could feel it.

"Hey Seiko, where are your friends?" The little girl whirled around to find Kirishima standing at the end of the row with a jacket slung over his shoulder. Though he didn't know who he was looking for the red head still searched the quickly emptying aisle for anyone that Seiko might have come with. With her head hanging, the child ran up to him.

"They, um, left without me."

Kirishima frowned before silently holding out his hand to her. She took it and together they went back to the group.

"It seems Seiko's ride ditched her," he declared before they had even come to a stop. Everyone snapped to attention at that. Bakugo's eyes spelled danger as he quickly pieced things together despite the lack of information. Past experiences gave him enough reason to justify placing the blame on _those_ brats.

"The next time I see those two―," he began, only to be cut off by the red-horned boy.

"Will you help take Seiko home?"

Seiko perked up and looked hopefully towards big bro. He closed his mouth with an audible click before nodding. It was obvious he had a lot of things he wanted to say about Zeke and Lau, but he knew he'd get an earful for it any way he looked at it. Besides, the one who needed to understand what he said about those kids wasn't going to listen to him anyways.

Kirishima let Seiko's hand slip out of his as she bounced over towards her big bro's side. Not wanting to wait around any longer Bakugo began to head out, and the rest followed after. Outside they parted ways with Sero. They walked on with with spirits rising little bit by little bit as they tried to regain some of the more pleasant feelings from before they left. Seiko proved once again that children really had no limit to their energy.

("It's like she brings a pickaxe with her just so she can dig her way through rock bottom and prove there's another well beneath it!" Kaminari exclaimed at one point.)

The little group reached an intersection, but they weren't forced to wait long. Soon traffic slowed and the road appeared clear. The walk sign flicked on.

"Green man means go!" Seiko recited the line while bolting forward. At that same moment a muscle car revved into the turn lane. Despite the light being red there was no indication of slowing down given from the driver.

"Seiko no!" Mina cried. Time moved like molasses as she and her friends all made a move to reach for the little girl. But whether it was because they were a step behind, just a hair too slow, or even that their reach just simply wasn't long enough, a sinking feeling told them they wouldn't make it in time.

A hand lashed out, yanking a fistful of the child's collar and pulled her back onto the curb before the speeding vehicle could so much as even clip her. Bakugo fell down with Seiko sprawled across his legs. His heart thundered in his chest, his ears; his entire body pulsed with that _fear_ again.

He tracked the car as it roughly skidded around the corner, yelling obscenities after it. " _That was a red-fucking-light motherfucker!"_

His throat was raw and the car long gone by the time he quit cursing the reckless driver out, but he wasn't done. Bakugo rounded on the child attempting to pick herself up, no less angry at her than he was with the other asswipe.

"And _you,_ " he seethed. "Just because the green man means go doesn't mean you just book it into the street! You still have to look both ways because assholes like _that_ ―," his thumb jerked over his shoulder, "don't seem to catch the memo that red means you have to fucking stop! And didn't you ever learn that you're supposed to hold someone's hand when you cross the street? Are you _trying_ to get yourself killed?"

"Hey man, stop wailing into her, she gets it!" Kirishima intervened, blocking his line of sight as he helped Seiko stand up and checked over her to make sure she was alright. Mina and Kaminari crowded around as well, worry not even beginning to cover the extent of what they were feeling.

Bakugo bit his tongue before he could say something he might regret.

Amber eyes peered around the older boy, wide and not as bright as they had been a few moments ago. She had never seen big bro that mad before, but she had seen _that_ kind of mad more than once. Chiyuki was often scolding her like that for being careless, so she knew that she had done something wrong. (Although nearly getting ran over was also a big indicator.)

But it wasn't just his anger that made her feel horrible. Seeing the panic cling to the edges of Bakugo's crimson eyes was worse than falling into an ice cold river. That emotion was not one that belonged in the proud boy's expression.

Seiko stepped around Kirishima and held out her hand to Bakugo.

"'M sorry. I won't do that again, promise."

Katsuki stared at the little hand offered to him for a long time. He couldn't stop picturing his own the moment he had reached out and pulled her out of the road. If he had been even a second off then…

He took her hand without realizing it. "I'm putting that promise on your tab, and you better pay up on it." His grip on that small hand tightened as he hoisted himself of the ground.

After the first time he had saved this kid Bakugo had thought his work as her hero was a bit more cut out, geared towards growing and bettering himself as a person. But there was still danger wherever this girl walked. Something like a careless, reckless action would be all that it took to end a life as small as hers.

There was still so much work he needed to do to prevent such an accident from ever occurring.

The little group stepped up to the crosswalk, and when the green man appeared everyone walked onto it holding hands.

* * *

 **Hello! Yes! I am alive and so is this story! I've been sitting on this chapter since September while writer's block handed me my ass on a silver platter. For that I apologize, and I apologize if _any_ of this chapter seems rushed or anything of the sort. Not only was writer's block continuing to fight me, but it's three in the morning right now and I'm running on desperation and an insufficient amount of goldfish. I'll come back and edit this at some point, but in the meantime this will do because *sobs* _it's finally done_ _!_ **

**A big thank you to every single last one of you that has shown support for this story! I'm so glad that you all find it enjoyable (and at times emotional). It really means a lot to me.**

 **And as for Next Chapter: _Hide and Rescue_**

 ** _In which it's really not as serious as it sounds._**


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